In Disguises No One Knows
by Saerry Snape
Summary: Eilis O'Bren is a smuggler blackmailed into working for the Republic. When Sith attack the Endar Spire, the ship she was assigned to, and she ends up on Taris with Commander Carth Onasi, she starts finding out that something's wrong in the galaxy. Her.
1. The Endar Spire, Orbit Around Taris

**Chapter 1: The Endar Spire, Orbit Around Taris**

"Hey, AT, can you get me the hydrospanner? AT?"

A dark head pulled out from underneath a control console in the hangar bay of the Republic ship the _Endar Spire_ and looked around curiously. The wiry woman then sighed and pushed her protective goggles up onto her forehead, causing her bangs to spike wildly and get entangled. Rubbing her grimy left hand over her blue eyes - which left a black smudge across the bridge of her nose - she shook her head in dismay.

"Damn droid," grumbled Eilis O'Bren as she sifted through her pile of tools for the elusive hydrospanner. The technician-slash-smuggler that'd been drafted by the Republic near the end of her last run shook her head as she added, "Don't know why I put up with his antics. Wonder where he went _this_ time…"

Finding the hydrospanner, she gave her goggles a tug back down over her eyes and ducked back into the innards of the console. She made a few adjustments and untangled one wily wire from its neighbors before pulling out again. Settling her weight back onto her heels, she rose up onto her knees and started up the console's power to see if she was finished with it.

"C'mon, baby, work for Elly," she muttered as she turned the power up to its normal level. The console hummed briefly to life then sputtered and died, leaving only a small orange light blinking at her. She glowered at the offending piece of machinery for a moment then her left fist lashed out and struck the underside of the console near the panel she had opened. The orange light flickered once then winked off, swiftly followed by the low hum of the console powering up.

Eilis grinned and gave the console a pat before she bent and replaced the panel she'd removed. Rising to her feet, she ran through a quick systems check to make sure everything was working like it was supposed to. When everything came back green and ready to go she chuckled and said to herself, "Elly O'Bren, 456; broken machines, 0."

A nervous beep sounded from her right suddenly and she turned to find AT there, the lens he used as an eye flickering red. Eilis turned to berate the little circular, repulsorlift-powered droid she'd rescued from a junk heap a year ago and froze as she saw something flash by the open hangar bay doors. A quick glance around showed all of the _Spire_'s fighters were sitting in the bay and she felt a quiver of fear rise up in her belly.

Another fight swooped by and then the much larger bulk of a ship equal in size to the _Spire _came into view. AT let out a piercing shriek and Eilis dropped the hydrospanner she still held in her hand in shock.

"Sith!"

Spinning, she wrenched open the protective case on the wall above the console she'd been working on and slammed her hand down onto the button underneath. Immediately the red emergency lights came up in the hangar and the shrill sound of the alarm system began to ring through the entire ship. Why the alarm hadn't been going off for the past few minutes when it was rather self-evident that the Sith weren't hiding themselves was a mystery to her but now it was off and anybody that didn't know something was up did now.

Eilis grabbed AT out of the air then and clutched him in her arms as she sprinted out of the hangar bay toward the repulsorlift, leaving all of her tools scattered on the floor. If she got killed by the Sith or captured, she wouldn't need them anyway.

Jabbing the button for the level her room was on, Eilis released a furiously beeping AT right before he zapped her arm with his stunner. The little droid spun in a circle then beeped even more furiously at her, his photoreceptor flashing red in such quick succession that it was nearly solid in color.

"Yeah, I know the Sith are likely boarding the ship," she snapped angrily at him. He beeped again and she snarled, "_Leave!_ Hey, I may be a smuggler but I'm still a member of the Republic! They need help and I'll be damned if I ain't gonna give it. And _you're_ gonna help too."

AT beeped in dismay and she smacked the little droid, causing him to bump into the wall of the car.

"Don't you tell me it's not our problem! We're on the ship that's being attacked for Force's sake! I think that makes it our problem!"

"Beep bop," said AT and bobbed in the air, his photoreceptor flicking to a steely blue. Eilis glared at him then took off in a sprint as soon as the car came to a halt, the little droid right behind her. Sparks burst from a hole made by blaster fire in the wall to her right as she ran past, causing her to throw up her right arm to shield her face. When she rounded the corner just beyond the damaged wall, she nearly ploughed straight into her bunkmate, Trask Ulgo.

"I've been looking for you!" exclaimed the Republic soldier, lowering the blaster pistol he'd pointed at her. "I thought you were asleep!"

"I was 'till I got dragged down to the hangar bay to fix the force field controls," explained Eilis. She then frowned at him and asked, "You didn't happen to grab my blade, did'ja? What with, y'know, the _Sith_ wandering the ship and me being weaponless?"

Trask looked confused for a minute then said, "Oh. Yeah." He held out a sheathed vibrosword in his left hand and she quickly buckled it onto her pouch-infested belt, checking the vibration cell in the hilt to make sure it was still working.

"We've got to get moving," said Trask as she finished her check. "The Sith have made it to the bridge."

Eilis wrinkled her nose then waved a hand at him in a 'Lead on' motion. The soldier acknowledged her by taking point and she followed him with one hand ready to unsheathe her vibrosword. AT bobbed along behind them, a small flamethrower she had equipped him with extended on an arm from one of the two bottom compartments on his body.

Trask opened a closed door by palming the wall console beside it then quickly ducked back behind with a hiss.

"_Sith!_"

Frowning, Eilis peered around him into the next corridor. Two Sith soldiers stood with their backs to them, their blaster rifle's held loosely at their sides instead of at the ready. Shaking her head at their stupidity, she whispered, "Be right back," to Trask and reached to her belt. The cool, underwater feeling of her stealth field generator washed over her as she turned it on and she stepped cautiously into the corridor.

Neither Sith made any sign that they heard her approach and she smiled grimly before slowly drawing her vibrosword. The blade hummed softly to life as she depressed the switch on the hilt and the Sith nearest her turned slightly, saying to his partner, "Did you - "

He never finished her question as Eilis drove her blade up with a harsh thrust, the point sliding up through the gap between the armor that guarded his neck and back to impale his throat. The other Sith let out a surprised cry and turned with his rifle at the ready but Trask took him down with two quick shots to the head.

As the corpses collapsed to the floor, Eilis switched off her stealth generator and pulled her vibrosword out of the Sith's neck. It scraped harshly against his armor and she frowned before jerking it completely free, shaking his blood from the blade in the same motion. Quickly she raided both soldiers' packs and found five frag grenades between them as well as two medpac's. Trask took one of the medpac's when she offered it but declined on the grenades.

"I throw worse than a girl," he commented with a wry grin.

Eilis' blue eyes narrowed at him and she snapped, "Watch it, Trask, or I'll shove a grenade up your ass." Her harsh tone was negated by the smile that twisted her lips and the Republic soldier knew that she was joking with him in her usual manner.

He grinned briefly at her then both of them turned serious again as they continued down the corridors of the _Spire_. Three more Sith fell to them before either got injured and Eilis drove her vibrosword viciously into the fourth one that had shot Trask in the shoulder. It had hit too close to the heart of the soldier who'd become a good friend to her since she'd been assigned to the ship for comfort.

She made him wait until the arm was at least partially usable again thanks to his medpac before they began moving again, this time with her taking point.

When she opened a door after AT burnt the two Sith guarding it to a fine crisp with his flamethrower, she was shoved roughly back by Trask before she could react. He shot a glance at her over his wounded shoulder and yelled, "Get out of here, Bren!" before he palmed the console and slammed the door shut in her face.

Leaving him locked in with a Dark Jedi.

AT beeped sadly and bobbed in the air briefly before bumping her shoulder. She blinked at him then looked at the closed door before turning and running towards the only other door in the corridor. As she palmed the wall console and it slid open, she silently said a short prayer for Trask. Sure he'd been a straight-laced Republic soldier but he'd treated her like a regular crewmember – unlike the rest of the crew, who seemed to think she was a pile of bantha poodoo.

Bursting through the door onto the bridge a few seconds later, she leapt at a uniformed Sith who rushed her with a long sword while his armored partner stood back to take potshots at her. She dodged one shot and her blade clashed with the Sith's in a flurry of sparks as another shot skimmed her right shoulder. Then AT darted forward and enveloped the blaster toting Sith in a sheet of flame, causing him to go down in a screaming heap. The Sith Eilis had locked swords with made the mistake of looking towards his fallen comrade and the technician-slash-smuggler took the opening he presented and shoved her sword past his armor into his heart. He let out a surprised gurgle and collapsed as she tugged her blade out of his chest.

"Beep beep brrr beep!"

"Blast killed them?" said Eilis as AT came back from inspecting several Sith and Republic soldier corpses near the front of the bridge. The consoles around the bodies sparked from blaster damaged and what looked like deliberate sabotage to her technician eyes. If the captain had ordered the navicomputer and other important bridge consoles destroyed or if the soldiers on the bridge had done the deed on their own it meant just one thing.

She had to get off this ship faster than a Gizka running from a bloodthirsty Kathhound.

"C'mon, AT, we've gotta get to the escape pods. Hopefully they didn't take 'em all in a mad rush to get off the ship or we're screwed."

"Beep beep."

"Huh? What beeping?"

The dark-haired smuggler was suddenly aware of the wrist communicator she'd been given upon joining the _Endar Spire_'s crew beeping. How long it had been going was a mystery and she nervously pressed the talk key, hoping that whoever at the other end wasn't some Sith trying to hunt down the last of the _Spire_'s crew.

"…yeah?"

"This is Commander Carth Onasi. Are you alright?"

Eilis frowned for a moment then blinked. Carth _Onasi_? One of the best pilots in the Republic fleet? What were the chances of ending up on the same ship as him! She then had a horrible thought and asked, "How do I know you aren't a Sith trying to trick me into telling you where I am so you can come and kill me?"

"Trust me, sister, if I were a Sith, I wouldn't have bothered with the communicator."

"Heh, you're right," said Eilis with a chuckle she didn't put much feeling into. "Sith can barely work blasters, let alone get a COM to work. Speaking of Sith, we got any escape pods left so we can get the hell away from our new shipmates?"

"There's one escape pod left," replied Carth, his voice crackling with static for a moment. "And as far as I can tell, we're the only one's left alive on the ship."

Eilis paled severely at that, thinking of the ship roster she'd hacked into in her first few days on the _Spire_ for fun. There had been at least six hundred people on it, over half of them Republic soldiers! And several of the rest had been Jedi!

"Hey? Hey, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," replied Eilis. She shook her head briefly and put the thoughts of the dead crew out of her mind. Right now she had to think about getting herself off the Spire, not about the dead she couldn't save.

"Give me ten minutes," she said to Carth as she eyed the ceiling above her head. "Then we can blow this joint."

"_Ten minutes!_" came his voice, laden with disbelief. "There's at least fifteen Sith between here and the bridge!"

She blinked and asked, "How'd you know I was on the bridge?"

Carth sighed and replied, "I can track your communicator from down here. But that's not the point! Unless you've got a stealth field generator, you're not going to be able to get past those Sith. And even then the chances are slim!"

The technician-slash-smuggler gave a husky chuckle and purred, "Now who said I was going the usual route? See yah in ten, Commander." She shut off the communicator before Carth could reply and turned towards AT with a grin.

"Get out your plasma torch and make me a hole in the ceiling, AT. We're taking the high ground. Let's just hope I remember the schematics of this place right…"

"Beep broop brr!" exclaimed the droid, extending another arm from one of his two top compartments. He floated up to the ceiling and went to work, burning a hole through the panels on the ceiling and straight up into the ventilation system that ran through the ship. There was a creak of metal as he finished and Eilis jumped back to avoid the ceiling panel falling on her. She glared briefly at the droid then bent her knees and jumped, fingers flailing for the new hole in the ceiling. Her hands were scalded through her gloves by the still heated metal but she didn't make any noise but a grunt as she levered herself up into the ventilation system. AT bumped around her shoulder so he could light her way and she smiled.

"Now I remember why I keep you around," she commented as she began to crawl after the circular droid.

AT buzzed at her in offense and she smiled.

"Just kiddin', pal. I'd hate to sneak past those Sith without you. Now, c'mon. Let's go surprise the Commander."

AT beeped an affirmative and bobbed along in front of her as they navigated the ventilation system. After a brief drop down to another level and another two-and-a-half minutes of crawling, Eilis ordered the droid to slice a hole in the bottom of the ventilation shaft but not the ceiling panel. It took him longer than it had to make an opening into the system since he had to be more careful but she was glad she'd had him to do it. Otherwise she'd have been screwed with her tools still sitting in the hangar bay.

Grabbing onto the sides of the ceiling panel, she pried it up and peeked down into the room below, fully expecting to see a friendly face. Instead she found a red armored Sith looking up at her in what could only be surprise.

"What the…"

_Frack_, she thought.

"Oh, sorry!" she called, grinning slightly. "Wrong room!"

"Tear apart the ceiling!" shouted the rather obvious Sith commander as she tugged the panel back into place and began to crawl furiously down the ventilation shaft. "And get that door open! I'll have the head of whoever let's her escape!"

"Brip breep," commented AT as she ordered him to open another hole in the ventilation shaft, this one like the first he'd made. She could only hope that _this_ room would be the one with Carth and the escape pods in it.

"Yeah, nice, ain't they?"

Moving above the cut out area her droid had made, she pulled her legs up in the small space of the ventilation shaft and kicked out. Her heels hit the loose piece of metal with a clang and it dropped, taking the cut section of ceiling panel beneath it with it. She heard a shriek from AT and looked back down the shaft to see a Sith's armored helmet come into view through her previous hole. His blaster appeared a few seconds later and she shoved the little droid through before dropping herself down into the room just as he fired.

The back of her head clanged against the side of the hole AT had made and she saw stars as she landed in a heap on the floor. She heard AT beeping wildly in fear and then large, callused hands set her up, making her force her eyes open. A man's face came into bleary view (as well as the rank pin on his collar) and she smiled, knowing fully well it couldn't look good, and said, "Hiya, Commander."

The man grunted and asked, "You're the woman on the communicator?"

"Yeah," mumbled Eilis, wishing the pounding in her head would go away so she could think and see clearly. "What, am I late?"

"No," said Carth, but the sound of blaster fire on the other side of the blast door negated that. It wouldn't be long before the door got open at that rate.

"Time to go, I think," she said, trying to push herself up onto her knees. But the second she tried that, her vision swam and she would have completely collapsed had it not been for Carth's hands on her shoulders. "Please make the room stop spinning first, though."

There was a grunt from the man beside her then she heard a squeal of protesting metal from the direction of the blaster fire. The Sith were forcing the door open…

Strong arms wrapped around her back and underneath her knees suddenly and she was lifted up off the floor before she could realize what happened. Her vision cleared enough that she could see Carth's face and realized he was carrying her to the remaining escape pod. AT was already in there and was beeping furiously while diving about in the air.

"Enough!" shouted Carth at the droid at the same moment Eilis finally got what her little friend was acting so weirdly about. She look over Carth's shoulder, absently noting the horrible orange pilot's jacket he was wearing, and saw the Sith commander shoving one arm through what part of the door that was open, his blaster aimed at the Republic soldier's back.

A surge of energy rushed through her and she plunged a hand into one of the pouches on her belt, coming out with one of the frag grenades she'd taken from the first Sith she and Trask had killed. She flicked it on with her thumb then hurled it towards the door just as the Sith commander fired.

Carth just happened to turn in time to make the shot hit her outstretched right arm instead of his back.

A second later Eilis found herself and Carth blown into the escape pod by the force of the grenade's blast. She landed awkwardly on one of the seats and would have been all right if he hadn't landed on her. Her head banged harshly against the side of the escape pod as AT slammed himself into the button that would send them away from the _Spire_ and she dimly heard Carth shouting to strap in.

She tried to focus her thoughts to follow his order but after two head blows she just couldn't get her mind to wrap about it. Carth's voice yelling in her ears and AT's horrified shriek were the last thing she heard before they entered the atmosphere of the planet they'd been passing. Her head hit the side of the escape pod again and her body decided it had had enough.

Everything went black.


	2. Taris, Unknown Location

**Chapter 2: Taris, Unknown Location**

Eilis awoke to three distinct feelings: her head pounding, warm sunlight on her face and sheets underneath and over her. She also remembered having a weird dream about Jedi…

"Good, you're awake."

Blue eyes darted across the room and she managed a smile when she saw Carth sitting at a table cleaning a pair of Republic-issue blaster pistols. He noticed the smile and said, "Guess that means you remember me?"

"You betcha, Commander," replied Eilis vigorously. Then she clutched at her head and moaned, "Oh, what'd I do, get run over by a herd of bantha's trying to dance?"

That brought a small chuckle from Carth and he answered her as he put the power pack back into one of his blasters.

"While that'd be an amusing sight, no, you didn't. You hit your head dropping out of the ventilation shaft then I think you hit it again when we were thrown into the escape pod by that grenade going off. I did manage to get you strapped in enough that you wouldn't injure yourself further but by that time you were unconscious." He then looked at her and added, "You've been out for nearly two weeks. For a while I thought you weren't going to wake up, what with a bump on the back of your head the size of a Gizka. But I managed to wrangle the local doctor up here and he said you'd be all right and all I had to do was wait."

"All right does not include a killer headache," grumbled Eilis. She then smiled and said, "And I guess I owe you my life. I'd've never gotten off the _Spire_ if you hadn't picked me up. Thanks."

Carth shrugged and replied, "I'd have done the same for anyone else. I've never left anyone behind before and I'm not going to start now."

"Mmm. Still, thanks. Oh and you didn't happen to notice a little droid, did you?"

"You mean the one that's been bumping into your right arm for the whole of our conversation?" asked Carth, his lips halfway twitching into a smile.

She blinked and looked down in shock to see not only AT bumping happily into her right arm and beeping gleefully, but that she was also stripped down to her jumpsuit. Turning back towards Carth, she asked, "Did you…?"

"Yeah," he replied, seeming to focus even more on his blasters. Was it just the dimness of the room or was that a blush spreading across his cheeks? "I was going to bandage your arm up but I figured out real quick that it didn't need it."

Eilis nodded and folded her arms underneath her breasts, gooseflesh racing up her left arm as it came into contact with the cool surface of her false one. She looked at him for a long moment then asked, "You got a problem with it?"

"No. I've seen plenty of soldiers with false limbs. Though I'd have to say yours is the oddest."

"Thanks. And I'm not a soldier." She unfolded her arms and began to check over her right one, especially where the Sith commander's blaster shot had hit. There was a black spot on the armor plating she installed on the arm to keep it from melting down like her last one had when she was working but beyond that it was fine. Everything still worked, including the flamethrower she had installed in her forearm.

"What are you then?" he asked in short, clipped tones. "And it'd be nice to know your name."

"The name's Eilis O'Bren," she snapped, her temper flaring at his cool tones. "And I was a smuggler before I got caught with a load of…eh, shall we say, less than reparable goods? After that I had two choices: jail or help the Republic. Since my dad didn't raise me to be patriotic for nothing, I chose to help. I also don't like being caged, so kinda had little choice in the matter."

"Right," said Carth. He looked down at his blaster for a moment then continued, "We've crashed on Taris, just so you know. And I don't think we'll be getting a rescue anytime soon."

Eilis frowned and reached out to shove AT down into her lap as he bumped her shoulder again then asked, "And why's that?"

Carth gave her that same kind of look a teacher gives a student who asks a stupid question and replied, "Taris is under Sith control. We'd be shot down before we even got into space."

"Okay, so no rescue. Guess we'll have to find our own ship then, eh?"

"You want to steal a ship?" asked Carth.

Eilis smiled and replied, "Well we've gotta get off this planet somehow."

"Maybe we should try the legal way. Though we'll have to wait until this blockade is over."

"And what makes you think it'll be over, hmm? Personally I don't think the Sith are just gonna up and leave. Not until they know they got every person who got out of the _Spire_'s escape pods and maybe not even then!"

Carth looked at her for a long moment and Eilis felt as though his brown eyes were boring a hole straight into her soul, laying everything bare for him to see. That thought made her lock eyes with him and glare back. Suspicion flared in his eyes and he grunted before breaking their stare.

"Well," he coughed, "you've got a point. We should start looking immediately then."

"For a ship?"

"That and one of the Jedi who managed to make it to the escape pods."

She wrinkled her nose. "Can't Jedi look after themselves?"

Carth gave her a sober stare and said, "She's barely in her twenties. And she's important to the war effort."

"Heh. I was running spice on the Corellian Run on my own when I was sixteen," said Eilis. "Surely this Jedi can take care of herself."

"Jedi are…different…than most people."

"Speaking from experience?"

Carth glared at her and her smirk then sighed, running a hand over his face. She distinctly heard him grumble something under his breath but couldn't make out what it was.

"Look," he said after a moment, "we're both stuck here. Just help me find Bastila and get her off planet and I'll…I'll see that you don't get thrown in jail incase they try to say you abandoned ship."

Eilis smiled and said, "Nice try, flyboy, but you and I both know that there's nothing you can do about my problems with the grand ole' Republic." She stretched both arms above her head then, real fingers interlocked with mechanical one's. "But since I'm so nice, I'll help you. Free of charge."

"What's the trick?" asked Carth suspiciously.

"No tricks, flyboy. I've gotten paid for a haul before then given the whole load of cred's to a woman just trying to feed her daughter. Unlike most of my smuggler brethren, I like helping somebody beside myself. Sometimes."

Those dark eyes bored into hers for a moment then he mumbled, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Her temper flared at that but she stomped it down, settling for just glaring at him. AT beeped softly from underneath her hand and she let go of him, smiling when he bobbed up and bumped into her stomach. He generally only did that when he was trying to comfort her, otherwise he just bumped into her shoulders.

"Oh, don't worry, AT," she said softly to the little droid. "I'll make him see. Even if I have to kick his ass and shove his face in it to do so."

"What was that?" asked Carth, looking up curiously. He quickly ducked his head again when he saw Eilis crouched with her backside to him and digging under her bed.

"Nothin', flyboy," she replied and she found the worn leather pants she'd been wearing in a pile under the bed and stood to pull them on. As she tugged on her belt, she grinned over her shoulder at him and asked, "What, never seen a girl in a jumpsuit before?"

"Just trying to give you some privacy," said Carth, hoping that the heat he felt in his face wasn't showing on his cheeks.

"Mmm."

Eilis dragged her scuffed boots out from under the bed then picked up what remained of the long sleeve shirt she'd been wearing. The right sleeve had a rather large hole in it where her forearm would be and when she found the glove she'd been wearing on that hand, she found a similar hole in it. Cursing vehemently, she stalked over to the trash bin and tossed both in.

Gathering up her other glove and sitting down on the bed to put on her boots, she looked at Carth and asked, "You don't happen to have another shirt, do you?"

"There's one over there on the workbench. I figured you'd need one when I saw the state yours was in."

"Thanks," said Eilis for the second time since she'd awoken. A few minutes later she finished tightening the straps that held her gauntlet-like glove on and flexed her fist. It would look weird walking around with only one glove (especially the one that was supposed to be on her left hand) but that was better than the stares she'd get it she walked around with her robotic arm showing. And drawing attention wasn't the best way to work as a smuggler – or to waltz about a Sith controlled planet.

Checking her pouches, she found the four grenades still there as well as the sole medpac. Both made her think of Trask and she frowned, silently wishing she'd been able to do more for the man that had likely saved her life.

Shaking her head, she silently scolded herself.

Stop beating yourself up over his death! The man died so you could get off the Spire and beating yourself up doesn't do him any justice!

"So…we goin'?"

"If you're ready," she heard Carth say from behind her. "Most of the other pod's crashed into the Lower and Undercities, so our best bet of finding Bastila is checking there."

Eilis nodded and started to strap her vibrosword onto her belt then stopped. She looked over her shoulder at Carth and asked, "Won't we get noticed carrying weapons?"

"The Tarisan nobles are well-known for starting duels with each other. Because of that, most everyone carries at least a small weapon."

"Great. We crash-landed in the land of the bloodthirsty."

She didn't see the frown Carth cast at her back as she finished strapping the scabbard of her vibrosword to her belt. When she turned to look at him, his face was a blank.

"Let's go, flyboy."

" 'Flyboy?' " repeated Carth as he followed her out of the apartment…only to end up behind a Sith patrol harassing two Duros.

Eilis' eyes narrowed and her lips twisted in a snarl as she watched, her mind drifting back to when she'd been bullied as a child. Her hand fell to the hilt of her vibrosword and she started to draw it just as the Sith officer turned after shooting one of the Duros.

"What's this? Humans with aliens? Wait…they're Republic spies! Shoot them! _Shoot them!_"

The two war droid's with the officer opened fire but Eilis was already running forward, her vibrosword sliding smoothly from its scabbard. Blaster fire from Carth took off one of the droid's heads as she ran towards it but it wasn't her target. She ran straight between the two droid's and locked swords with the officer, who was looking at her in fear.

"Picking on the defenseless isn't nice," she growled before kicking the Sith solidly in the stomach. The officer collapsed and Eilis drove her blade into his heart with a vicious hiss. She then heard the droid that Carth hadn't shot to pieces die with a wail and turned to see AT bobbing in the air with his flamethrower out. Mentally, she made a note to buy (or steal) him a new one soon.

She then turned towards the remaining Duros and spoke in his own tongue, surprising both him and Carth.

"_I'm sorry about your friend_."

The Duros blinked at her again then shook his head.

"_Ixgil should never have talked back to them. It was brave of you to step in, human._"

"_I don't like bullies_," said Eilis, her eyes flashing angrily. Then the anger faded and she added, "_And I'm glad to have helped_."

"Won't they search for this patrol?" asked Carth.

The Duros shook his head and replied, "_I will move the bodies. Make it look it they were caught in the gang war. With luck, we won't be bothered for a while._"

Eilis translated his words to the pilot then said, "_Just be careful_."

"_I will, human. And thank you again._"

The Duros began to drag the Sith officer's body off, quickly joined by another Duros that picked up the remains of the war droid's. Eilis and Carth quickly found the elevator out of the apartment building and he questioned her on the way down.

"You know Duros?"

"And Mandalorian, Twi'leki, Selkath, Shyriiwook, Rodian, Trandoshan, Aqualish, Ithorian, Droid, and a few more. Why?"

Carth eyed her with open suspicion as the elevator doors opened and said, "You're more than just a smuggler."

"Yup. I'm a tech," said Eilis with a grin.

"That's not what I meant."

"Hey, look, Commander Suspicion, we're stuck together. So, let's cut the paranoia and _work_ together. If you want my life story, wait till we get back to the apartment."

With that, she stormed out of the elevator and onto the streets of Upper Taris, leaving Carth to stare after her. His eyes wandered down to the view her leather pants afforded of her backside then he mentally slapped himself.

Moments later, he was jogging to catch up with her and stopped her by jumping in front of her. She glared up at him from underneath her hair, her blue eyes like shards of ice.

"Move it, flyboy."

"Look…I'm sorry, alright? I just… I have a problem trusting people."

"Yeah, well, get over it," snapped Eilis, somehow managing to glare down at him despite the fact that her head only came up to his shoulder. "'Cause you're stuck with me."

"Geeze, can't you just take an apology?"

The dark-haired woman looked at him coldly for a moment then sighed and ran a hand back through her hair.

"Look, Carth, I get the not-trusting-people thing. I don't trust half the slime bag's I've worked for in my life. But can you just try and give me a chance?" She smiled brightly and added, "I promise not to snap at you again."

"Right."

She huffed at that and placed her hands on her hips above her belt, frowning at him now.

"Now see here you…"

"Okay, okay," said Carth, quickly backing out of what seemed to be turning into another argument. "I'll try and give you a chance."

Eilis' bright smile returned and AT beeped happily from behind her. She patted Carth's upper arm and said, "S'all I want, flyboy. Now, c'mon. We've got a city to explore."

------

Carth sighed heavily as he watched Eilis play Pazaak with a heavily muscled man that looked like he could easily break her in half. He'd even mentioned that to her and she'd laughed – _laughed_ – before sauntering over to challenge the man to a game.

After wandering around the Uppercity and helping an old man deal with his debt to the local crime boss as well as an Ithorian who was being harassed by two children, they'd found out that they'd need Sith uniforms to sneak past the guard at the elevator that lead down into the Lowercity. Eilis had then suggested heading back to the cantina they'd discovered earlier, where they might have some luck finding a drunk Sith they could swipe a uniform from. So far that plan hadn't worked as they weren't allowed in in their uniforms.

AT made a worried sound from where he hovered beside Carth and the pilot gave the small droid a smile.

"Worried too?"

"Beep bop," replied the droid. Carth didn't understand droid's at all but he guessed that AT was agreeing with him.

Casting another glance towards Eilis, he then turned around on his stool at the bar and ordered a drink. When it arrived, he turned back around and continued to watch the Pazaak game while sipping (and grimacing every once in a while) Tarisan ale.

It wasn't until the fifth game that the big man started to get annoyed at his losing streak.

"You little wench! You're cheating!"

"Am I now?" said Eilis, arching an eyebrow as she leaned back in her chair. She then chuckled and crossed her arms behind her head, smirking at the man across from her. "Prove it."

The man let out a growl and started to stand, his face almost entirely red with rage. Carth's hand slipped down towards his blaster and he grabbed loosely onto it, ready to draw it if things got nasty. Beside him, AT buzzed angrily and dived about in the air, obviously wanting to go to his mistress but couldn't as she'd ordered him to stay with Carth.

Eilis stood as well and Carth nearly drew his blaster then and there when he saw how truly small she was compared to the man. _He_ would have only come up to the guy's chest and he wasn't short by a long shot.

Holding up her hands in a peaceful gesture, she smiled coyly and purred, "C'mon, now. No need to get annoyed because you're losing to a woman. All's fair in love and Pazaak, y'know."

The man looked down at her in surprise, obviously having expected her to be afraid of him. But Carth had figured out since Eilis had dropped down out of a ventilation shaft in front of him after bypassing several Sith soldiers (and obviously making a visit to them judging from the fact that they'd come after her) that it took more than a guy like that to shatter her nerves.

The man's face darkened with anger even further and he lunged towards Eilis with his big, beefy hands. Carth snarled and jerked his blaster from his holster at the same moment the dark-haired woman grinned ferally and ducked under his hands with liquid grace. She then grabbed his left wrist with her right hand and squeezed tightly.

The crack of broken bones reverberated through the cantina and the man's bellows of pain as he stumbled back clutching his broken wrist brought the owner charging into the room.

"You again!" shouted the balding owner, his sunken eyes flashing. "I told you the last time if you started another fight, it would be your last in here! If I see you in here again, you'll find a blaster bolt between your eyes, understand!"

The man nodded numbly and glared at Eilis before lumbering out…leaving his Pazaak deck and what he'd bet on the table. Eilis frowned at this and gathered up only her deck and her winnings then was surprised by the owner handing her the man's deck and credits.

"I've been trying to keep him out of here for years," said the man, lines around his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Thank you for giving me an excuse. I suppose you can take his deck and cred's in payment."

"I couldn't!"

"Yeah, you can," said the owner in a gruff voice. He forced open her left hand and shoved both the deck and the five hundred credits the man had bet into her palm, closing her fingers over them. Then he smiled and said, "Tell you what, I'll give you a meal and a drink on the house as well."

"Oh, no, you shouldn't…"

The owner waved a hand and said, "Uh-uh. I've already decided, missy, and you're gonna abide by it."

Eilis sighed and shook her head then stuffed the deck and credits into one of the pouches on her belt. Then she looked at the owner and commented, "You are a very persistent man."

"Indeed I am, missy. Now, you gonna take my deal or am I going to have to throw you over my knee?"

She nearly giggled at that but held it back. Instead she just smiled and said, "Okay. But only if you give my friend the same deal."

"You got it. Just give me a call at the bar when you know what you want."

Eilis nodded then turned and walked over to Carth, who was giving her an exasperated look. She frowned and stopped directly in front of him, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him with all her weight on one leg. This gave anyone behind her the perfect view of her backside and Carth bristled as several men stared at her with lust in their eyes.

He then realized what he was doing and got the sinking feeling that he was…

"Hey, flyboy, you listenin' to me?"

"Sorry, what?"

Eilis growled and snapped, "We got free food! What'd'ya want?"

"Uh, nothing," replied Carth, fiddling with the handle on his blaster.

"I know you're hungry."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

Yes, you are."

"No, I'm…wait, wait." Carth stopped himself and glared at her. "Why are we having such an immature conversation?"

"You started it," snipped Eilis, sticking her tongue out at him before sitting down on the stool beside him. Carth could almost hear every man who'd been watching her groan miserably.

"I! _What!_ Oh, no, sister, don't you blame this one on me!"

"And here you go again! Starting another argument."

"What…no, y'know what? Nevermind. I'm not going to argue with you."

Eilis shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Suit yourself." Then she stood slightly and called the owner over, quickly rattling off some food that Carth didn't recognize. He saw a teenager off to the side stand up so he could get a view of her backside before she sat back down and he held himself back from going and pummeling the kid.

Then again, he couldn't blame the kid or any other guy in the place. Eilis was an attractive woman and had the lean body of someone who kept themselves in good shape as well as all the curves in the right places. Of course, then she could be as annoying as anything sometimes. Then other times she was as kind as anyone could possibly be.

All in all, the woman sitting beside him confused Carth.

And, to his utmost dismay, he was attracted to her.

_Well,_ he thought as Eilis ate her food and seemingly ignored his presence, _it can't get any worse._

------

_I was wrong,_ he thought later as they returned to the apartment that had become their temporary home. _It can get worse._

"Look, I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, _c'mon,_ Carth!" exclaimed Eilis, angrily twisting the hydrospanner she'd bought to do repairs on AT. The little droid shrieked and she quickly fixed whatever she'd done. "Sorry, AT."

"Beep brip."

She sighed and turned to frown at him where he sat at the table looking over a datapad. He'd been taking notes on everything they'd done since their crash and now he was reading over it.

"C'mon, Carth, I just want to know a little about you. I mean, you know a lot about me!"

His dark eyes continued to scan the datapad as he replied, "Only that you're an ex smuggler with a droid arm."

"Well, that's a hell of a lot more than I know about you!"

"Okay, okay!" He dropped the datapad onto the table and ran his hands back through his hair, leaning back in his chair as he did so. Then he looked grimly at her and said, "Begin your interrogation then."

Eilis glared at him and he sighed, saying, "Okay, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"No, I didn't," she said softly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes then she prodded, "So, yah gonna tell me?"

Carth growled and snapped, "You are the most persistent woman I've ever met!"

"Was that a compliment?"

He glared at her then found he couldn't hold it when she was looking at him with a slight smile on her face. Sighing, he rubbed his face with one hand and grumbled, "Oh, just tell her a little already," to himself.

"Fine. I've been a star-pilot for the Republic for years – and fought in more than my share of wars. Before all this with the Sith, I fought in the Mandalorian Wars. Though even they weren't as senseless as these Sith animals."

He scowled as he continued, "My homeworld was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission and there wasn't a damn thing our forces could do about it!"

There was a long pause then Eilis said so softly that he almost didn't hear her, "You talk like it was your fault."

"It's not!" shouted Carth. His voice then dropped several octaves as he said, "It shouldn't be. I…I did everything I could… I followed my orders and did my duty! That shouldn't mean I failed them!"

"Failed them? You mean…the people of your homeworld?"

"Yes. No! No, that's not what I meant. I mean…"

Carth sighed and rubbed his hand over his face again, scratching idly at the stubble on his chin.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not making much sense. And I know you probably mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past. At _all_, actually. I'm more used to taking action…y'know, keeping my mind on the business at hand. So why don't we just do that? If you have any more questions, you can interrogate me later."

He let the legs of his chair fall to the floor and rose, heading towards the 'fresher with sharp, angry strides.

"Carth?"

He froze and didn't turn to look at her but Eilis could tell he was listening.

"I…I'm sorry I brought up bad memories."

"Not your fault," he said shortly before disappearing into the 'fresher. Eilis stared after him for a few moments then looked down at AT, who made a mournful sound. She patted the droid on the 'head' and closed up the compartment she'd been working on.

"He's so confusing, AT," she said softly to the droid. "One minute he'll be joking with me and the next he's snapping. I don't understand it. But I'm not doing much to keep it from happening so often by failing to control my temper, am I?"

"Beep bop breep boop."

"Oh, thanks. Nice to know you care."

"Beep bop."

"Why you little… Go and shut down! And leave any odd notions about me and Carth alone!"

AT made another mournful sound then moved over to one of the corner's of the apartment nearest the door, hovering near the floor. When Carth came out of the 'fresher, he frowned at the depressed looking droid then looked over at Eilis' bed. There was just a lump under the blanket and he could practically feel the ire rising from it.

Glancing once more at AT, he moved as silently over to his own bed as he could, murmuring the command to turn off the lights as he went. As he lay down, he heard Eilis shift around and almost said something to her. Then he shook his head and just rolled over to go to sleep.

------

"One."

"Who is that?" whispered Carth in Eilis' ear as they stood in the entrance of Javyar's cantina. They had stumbled across an alien being harassed about stolen Sith uniforms in the other apartment building near them in the Uppercity earlier and had rescued him. In turn he'd given them one uniform, which Carth had been forced to put on as it was far too big for Eilis. They'd then managed to get down into the Lowercity, only to end up caught in the swoop gang war going on.

Now they'd come into the cantina to take a break and instead had run into two Rodian's and a Twi'lek, that seemed to be Vulkars by their uniforms, harassing a short, stocky man wearing a rather fruity coat and goggles. At the sight, Eilis had come to a complete halt and Carth had ended up stumbling into her back.

"That's…"

"Two."

"…Calo Nord," hissed Eilis over her shoulder, absently grabbing AT out of the air and tucking him under her arm. He beeped in offense then settled down when he too seemed to recognize the man being harassed. "He's one of the top bounty hunters in the galaxy."

"Three."

In a movement that was almost too quick to follow, the bounty hunter pulled his blasters and shot the three Black Vulkars in quick succession. His blasters were reholstered by the time their bodies hit the floor and he placed a credit on the bar before heading for the entrance.

When he saw Eilis and Carth standing in his way, he frowned and said, "One."

Eilis held up her free hand and stepped out of the way. Carth quickly followed her example and Calo smiled smugly at them, nodding his head.

"Smart," he commented then disappeared out into the Lowercity.

"I'm not surprised to find people like that wandering around Taris," said Carth quietly as they went searching for a table to sit at.

Eilis frowned and said, "There's people like that all over the galaxy, Carth. You just have to know where to find them." She then scowled and released AT, who beeped happily at being able to move freely again, before storming over to where two Rodian's were harassing a young Twi'lek girl.

"Hey!" she hissed, tapping one on the shoulder quickly. He turned and Eilis let loose a punch with her right hand, all her anger at bullies behind it. Carth heard bones break and knew that the Rodian's face would never likely be the same again.

The other Rodian turned with a blaster in hand but the Twi'lek girl knocked it out of his hand then kicked him in the area where most males are vulnerable. He let out a pained squeak but still lunged at her, trying to grab her arm. Of course, because of this, he never saw Eilis' foot flying towards his face.

"Are you trying to get us arrested?" demanded Carth as the woman glared at the two unconscious Rodian's.

Eilis turned to glare at him then frowned and said, "Oh, Force, I'm sorry, Carth. I just…I don't like bullies and I can't stand to do _nothing_ when someone is being bullied."

The Republic pilot sighed and ran a hand back through his hair, staring down at her for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, "I know how you feel. But we've got to keep a low profile."

"I'll try."

She then turned to the young Twi'lek (never noticing AT shocking a waking Rodian back into unconsciousness) and said, "Sorry, I broke in like that. I know you could probably have handled them but I just dislike bullies. A lot."

The frown the Twi'lek had on her face vanished in an instant and she exclaimed, "Glad I'm not the only one! I'm Mission Vao, by the way. And you didn't have to worry. I have Big Z to protect me."

" 'Big Z?' " repeated Carth, looking confused.

Mission nodded and pointed over to a booth where a large, furry Wookiee was eating what would have fed her, Eilis, and Carth for two days.

"You have a _Wookiee_ for protection?" he gasped in shock. He looked at Mission with admiration in his eyes and said, "That's rather impressive."

"We take care of each other, Big Z and me. C'mon…um, what are your names?"

"I'm Eilis and this is Carth," explained Eilis. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mission."

"You too," chirped the Twi'lek, leading them towards the Wookiee's booth. She then waved at him and cried, "Hey, Big Z! _Look!_ I found new friends!"

Eilis chuckled as the big Wookiee growled a greeting and smiled up at Carth, who blinked at her.

"What?"

"I like her," replied the woman before sliding into the booth beside an excited Mission.

Carth blinked again then shook his head in amusement before pulling up a chair and taking a seat.

------

"We've got to do _what_ to get the accelerator!"

"Travel to the Undercity and break into the Vulkar base," replied Gadon Thek calmly to Carth's outburst.

"Wait…isn't that where the rakghoul's are?" asked Eilis, remembering the conversation they'd had a few days ago with the healer Zelka in the Uppercity. She had promised the man she'd find him a sample of the serum the inhabitants of the planet need but he'd told her to forget about it. But she would make good on her promise.

"Indeed it is," said the Twi'lek Zaedra that seemed very protective of Gadon.

Eilis frowned then asked, "And the entrance is where…?"

"Inside the sewers," replied Gadon, looking at her. "Though you'll need a guide to get through them without getting lost. And I can only think of one…"

"No, Gadon, you can't be suggesting…"

"She knows the sewers better than anyone, Zaedra."

The Twi'lek's lekku twitched in irritation and she exclaimed, "Mission's only fourteen!"

"Wait," said Carth, holding up a hand. "Mission?"

Gadon nodded slightly and said, "Yes, Mission Vao. Do you know her?"

"We met her in Javyar's yesterday," explained Eilis. "She was the one that suggested we seek you out."

"I see. Do we have an agreement then?"

Eilis looked at Carth, who held up his hands and said, "I'm letting you call this one, beautiful."

She frowned and arched an eyebrow.

" 'Beautiful?' "

AT made a comment that it was a nice nickname. Eilis shot a glare at him out of the corner of her eyes then looked back at the pilot.

Carth just smirked and tilted his head slightly as he said, "Flyboy?"

Eilis glared at him then turned back to Gadon, saying, "Alright, you've got a deal. Now where can we find Mission?"

"If she's not at Javyar's," replied Gadon, scratching his chin, "she's likely in the Undercity. And that Sith uniform trick you used earlier won't work on the guard on this elevator."

"How did you… No, nevermind," said Eilis, catching the small smile on Gadon's face. "Lemme guess, you want the uniform."

"In exchange for these papers that will allow you past the guard."

Eilis looked at Carth then slung the pack she had taken to carrying off her back and dug out the Sith uniform. As she laid it on Gadon's desk, she said, "I think we have another deal, Mister Thek."

------

"Eilis!"

"Mission!" exclaimed the dark-haired woman, looking up from cleaning rakghoul blood off her vibrosword. She then spotted the blue Twi'lek running towards her and jogged to meet her, leaving Carth to sift through the remains of two Sith they'd stumbled upon before being attacked by the creatures.

Mission collapsed into her arms once she was close enough and clung to her like she was a lifeline. Eilis patted the teenager's back reassuringly in response.

"They took Big Z! You've gotta help me!"

"Who took him?" asked Eilis as Carth walked up behind her.

"The Gammoreans! Those Lylek-dung-grubbers are going to make him a slave!"

" 'Lylek-dung-grubbers?' " mouthed Carth curiously to Eilis. She frowned and mouthed back, "Native insult."

Eilis then caught Mission's chin and made the young Twi'lek look up at her.

"We'll get him back, Mission," she swore. "I promise."

Mission sniffed and smiled at her, mumbling, "Thanks."

"Anything for a friend. Here. Clean up your face. I don't think Big Z would take to well to seeing you all soppy."

"I'm not soppy," grumbled Mission as she blew her nose.

Eilis smiled in a humoring way and said, "Of course not. You ready now?"

"Yeah. Ready to go and beat those pigs for taking Big Z!"

"And after that we can go and tell Zelka we found what he wanted," said Carth, holding up a small metal vial. Eilis stared at it then gasped.

"_The serum?_"

"That's all I can figure is in it." He tucked it into an inside pocket on his coat, which he wore over one of the light combat suits Eilis had bought with her Pazaak winnings. But for some reason, Eilis didn't look right in the light armor. Like she was supposed to be wearing something else…

Carth dismissed the thought with a slight shake of his head and looked up to find the two of them over at the nearby sewer entrance. Sighing, he jogged over to them, wincing as Eilis opened the door.

The smuggler grimaced then breathed in through her mouth instead of her nose, which didn't help much. Mission looked at her worriedly and Eilis said, "Hey, don't worry. I've had employers that smelt worse than this."

"Beep bop."

"Yes, AT, that Hutt was one of them."

She then looked down into the depths and said, "Let's go."

------

"Hey, Carth?"

"Yeah?" said the pilot, turning away from the rather amusing sight of Mission being nearly engulfed by Big Z's fur. Eilis' droid AT-AT was beeping happily and darting in circles around them.

"Y'think we could finish that conversation?"

"We _finished_ that conversation, Eilis," growled Carth.

"Yeah, but you said I could ask again later," pointed out the woman. "This is later."

Carth sighed and growled something under his breath that sounded like 'bloody persistent woman' then turned to look at her.

"Alright. Interrogate me."

"_Teja gra!_" hissed Eilis, throwing up her hands in exasperation. Then she snapped, "It's not an interrogation!"

"Right."

"Blast it, Carth! I just want to know more about you! Is that a crime? Or are you just so paranoid that you don't want anyone to know _anything_ about you?"

"NO!" exclaimed Carth. "It's…it's not like that."

"Then what _is_ it?"

He frowned for a few moments then looked up at her with annoyance in his eyes.

"Okay," he said harshly, "I'll tell you. But first I want you to tell me something."

"What?"

"What were you doing on the _Endar Spire_?"

"I told you, I was caught during a run and had two choices. I took the one to _help_ the Republic!"

"I know that," said Carth. "But I remember that there was a last minute transfer from another unit to the _Spire_ before we set out. Bastila ordered it herself. And that transfer was for a smuggler who'd been caught with some illegal goods and was now serving the Republic.

Eilis made a frustrated sound and snapped, "What does it matter if I was a last minute transfer!"

"Don't you find it odd that you just happened to survive the attack?"

"I was in the hangar bay fixing the damned force fields! I _saw_ the Sith coming!"

"Exactly," said Carth. "What were the chances of you actually making it through the ship to the escape pods?"

"Slim to none! Now what's your fracking point?" Her blue eyes narrowed suddenly and she snarled, "You think I'm a Sith spy, don't you?"

Carth held up his hands and said, "Hey, I may be wrong. But I've learned not to take things at face value. And I hate being surprised."

"We're on the same side, Carth!"

"Look, it's not you, Eilis. I just don't trust anyone. Can we leave it at that?"

Eilis glared at him for a few moments then hissed, "Fine. But I'm going to prove I'm on your side, Onasi! Even if I have to kick that stubborn head of yours in!"

She then took a calming breath and turned towards Mission, who was happily chattering away with the big Wookiee.

"Mission, can I ask you a favor?"

Carth marveled at how quickly the anger had fled from her voice. Another odd trait about the woman who had become his partner of sorts.

"Anything, El!" exclaimed the blue Twi'lek. Big Z then grumbled something and she turned to stare at him. "Big Z, are you sure? That's major!"

"What?" asked Carth, taking note of the look of surprise on Eilis' face.

"He wants to swear a life-debt to me," breathed Eilis.

"I take it that's something important."

"It's a loyalty vow," explained Eilis, her eyes on the Wookiee the entire time. "The most solemn vow a Wookiee can make."

"You know of the life-debt?" said Big Z, sounding surprised.

"My mother was fascinated by other races," she replied, surprising him further by speaking in accurate if slightly shoddy Shyriiwook. "She learned a few of their languages and taught them as well as others to me."

"Then I swear a life-debt to you, Eilis O'Bren. Forever I will be at your side. May this vow be as strong as the great wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk."

Eilis bowed slightly and said, "I'm honored to accept your vow, Big Z. By the way, what's your actual name?"

"Zaalbar."

"And you know where Big Z goes, I go!" chirped Mission, her lekku twitching. Eilis smiled at the young Twi'lek and nodded.

"Welcome aboard then."

"What was this favor you were going to ask?" asked Zaalbar curiously.

Eilis frowned and replied, "We made a deal with Gadon Thek: we get a prototype swoop accelerator for him and he helps us get a friend of ours back from the Vulkars. But we have to get into their base to get the accelerator back."

"I know a way in there," said Mission. She frowned for a moment then pointed back the way they'd come. "It's down that way. There's a force field that protects that part of the sewers but I know how to get past it. Vulkar's turn stupid when they drunk too much ale."

"And you'll take us?" asked Carth.

Mission nodded and grinned up at Zaalbar.

"You helped me save Big Z."

"That's a 'yes' then," said Eilis, a smile twitching across her lips.

"That's a 'yes'," confirmed Zaalbar with a smile.

"Okay," said Mission, "but we'll have to be careful around the Rancor."

"Rancor!" said Carth, his eyes widening. He then looked around them and asked, "How the hell did they get a Rancor down here?"

The Twi'lek shrugged and replied, "How should I know? But don't worry! I've snuck past it lot's of times!"

"Yes, and scared the life out of me."

"You knew I'd be alright, Big Z!"

"It did not look that way to me, Mission."

"Hmphf. See if I buy you food again!"

Zaalbar grimaced and laid a paw on her shoulder.

"Mission…"

"I'm just kidding!" exclaimed the blue Twi'lek, hugging the Wookiee tightly. She then turned to Eilis and said, "We can go now. Do you want to go now?"

Eilis looked at Carth, who waved his hand in a 'go ahead' gesture. She smiling tightly at him, still remembering their harsh conversation earlier, then turned back to Mission.

"Lead on, Mission."

------

"You return!" said Gadon with slight surprise in his voice as Eilis walked up to his desk. She grimaced in response then dropped her sewer-slime coated pack on his desk. Reaching in, she dug around for a moment then pulled out the accelerator that they had just risked their lives for.

"Yeah," she said as he called two technician's over to take the swoop part, "and what a nice little trip that was. Now how do we get our friend back?"

"We must not allow the Vulkars to win the swoop race," replied Zaedra. "Your friend is the prize."

Eilis frowned at the Twi'lek then snapped her gaze to Gadon.

"You want me to race for you," she said, causing Carth to twitch behind her.

"What?"

"Indeed I do," said Gadon with an inclination of his head, masking his surprise at her insight. "The prototype will be unstable and I dare not risk any of my riders on it."

Carth's expression darkened and he snarled, "But you'd willingly risk her!"

Eilis turned and laid a hand on his chest, her blue eyes catching his gaze. "We have to get Bastila back," she hissed sotto voce. "This is the only way."

He frowned down at her for a moment then said, "Fine. But you'd better do whatever you can to that swoop to make sure you win. And not die in the process."

"Hey, I'm not a tech for nothing, flyboy," said the dark-haired woman with a smile. She then turned to Gadon and said, "I'll race for you. But I get to install the accelerator in the swoop."

"Beep bop!"

"And AT gets to help."

The swoop gang leader studied her for a moment then nodded.

"Very well," he said, ignoring Zaedra's protests that their technicians would be fine. "I place your life in your own hands. I only hope you have the skill to drive."

Eilis just smirked and said, "I raced swoops on my homeworld since I was big enough to. You will win against the Vulkars and we'll get our friend back no problem, that I promise you."

------

"You stupid bastard," hissed Eilis as she pulled her bloody vibrosword out of Brejik's heart. "I gave you a chance to _live_. Why didn't you take it?"

_Because he knew he was done for,_ whispered part of her mind.

"Bop brrr brip!" cried AT, gaining her attention. She turned towards him and found him darting back and forth in front of the Jedi, who still had her yellow double-blade (which she'd snatched off Brejik as the fight broke out) ignited and was eying him.

"Hey!" snapped Eilis as she saw the lightsabre twitch. "Touch my droid and the Tarisian's'll be pickin' pieces of you out of their water for the next decade!"

The Jedi looked at her and the technician/smuggler bristled at the look in the younger woman's eyes. She was looking at her like she was nothing worthwhile!

"Your droid? How…wait, you're from the _Endar Spire_!"

"Yeah," growled Eilis, still angry at being looked at like she was nothing. She was everything and a glass of Corellian brandy compared to this Jedi who'd gotten herself captured by a swoop gang! The urge to beat the little upstart into a pulp for even looking at her like that swelled up in Eilis but she shoved it down, settling instead for speaking in as calm a voice as she could manage. "Eilis O'Bren. And you're Bastila. Now c'mon. We've got to get out of here."

"Wait!" said Bastila as the smuggler started to walk off. "How did you end up racing for a swoop gang?"

"Me and flyboy spent a lot of time wandering trying to figure out where you were," replied Eilis "Eventually ran into the Bek's and found out about you. There. Happy?"

"Well, I…"

"Bastila!"

The two women turned to see Carth jogging towards them, worry and relief etched across his face. He came to a halt in front of them, saying, "Well, things are finally starting to look up!"

"Commander Onasi?" gasped Bastila in shock. She then looked at Eilis and demanded, "Why did you not tell me you were working with him?"

"I did," said Eilis grumpily. "He's flyboy. Now, if we don't want to get rounded up by the locals or the Sith, I suggest we get back to our little hidey-hole. Oh, and Carth, where are Mission and Zaalbar?"

"Who?" asked Bastila even as Carth replied, "I sent them back to the apartment after you won the race. Sorry I didn't help in the fight. I had to go through a Vulkar and a locked door."

"Guess we'd better get back to the apartment then," said Eilis. She looked up at the Republic pilot and thought, _I wonder if he was frightened for me._ Then she slapped herself mentally. _Stop that, Elly. You're buying into that little rust bucket's idea._

Carth glanced furtively at Eilis, who had a slightly exasperated look on her face. He frowned slightly, wishing Bastila wasn't there. If she weren't, he'd have hugged the diminutive smuggler in relief once he saw her still standing.

He then noticed a gap near her waist in the thin Bek colored jacket she wore over her armor and pulled it open. Eilis hissed and spat, "_Droyk!_"

"You're injured," he stated.

"Yeah, one of Brejik's trained kathhounds got me with a vibroblade." She batted his hands away from the wound and said, "I can make it back to the apartment, thanks. We can deal with it there. But first we need to get that serum to Zelka."

As she walked off, she didn't see the worried look in his eyes.

"She is…strange," said Bastila from behind the pilot as they watched the smuggler trudge wearily up the steps.

"She's something," muttered Carth. "Though strange isn't what I'd say."

Bastila blinked at him then had a frightful feeling that she was about to stumble into a mynock's nest. And wasn't going to be able to get back out.

------

"You cannot seriously trust this man!"

Eilis sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes in an attempt not to throw something at Bastila. It'd been a day since she'd rescued the Jedi – or as she told it, _she'd_ rescued _Eilis_ – and already the smuggler wished she could kick the younger woman out an airlock.

"Look," she said, clutching a glass of Tarisan ale in her right hand, "we haven't got much of a choice. He says he can get us a ship to get off planet. All we've got to do is help him. So if you really want to be a help, Bastila, why don't you check and see if he's lying to us?"

Bastila colored slightly and said, "I will do no such thing! To invade someone's mind…"

"Is a handy trick and could be useful," growled Eilis, sipping the ale. She grimaced and wished she'd crashed on Corellia instead of Taris. They at least had good liquor.

"The Force is not meant to be used in such trivial ways!"

"Damnit, woman!"

The glass shattered and the smuggler cursed, shaking her hand to get rid of the clinging drops of ale from her glove. She silently thanked the fact that it was liquid-proof and she wasn't about to get ale in the finger joints of her hand. The last time she'd done that, she'd had to go two weeks without her arm so she could get her hand back in working order.

Eilis growled something unsavory under her breath in both Mandalorian and Twi'leki and rose to her feet. She glared down at the still seated Bastila and absently remembered to keep her voice down from a shout as they were in Javyar's cantina.

"Are all Jedi this worthless?" she spat before storming over to the table that Canderous Ordo had taken after they'd talked. Bastila had insisted on being the one to accompany Eilis to the meeting the Mandalorian mercenary had requested and she'd firmly told Carth to stay in the apartment. The pilot had bristled and would have gone into a tirade at the Jedi but he didn't at a shake of Eilis' head.

Now the smuggler was missing the pilot. Even if he _was_ an aggravating man…

"_I take it all didn't go well with your friend_," said Canderous in Mandalorian as she sat down across from him and ordered another Tarisan ale.

"_She's not my friend_," growled Eilis. She waited until her drink came and downed half of it in one gulp, making her throat burn. "This stuff is Sithspit."

Canderous looked at her for a long moment then grunted, "_Something we agree on, O'Bren. Oh, and here comes your friend_."

Eilis groaned and looked over her shoulder to see Bastila heading towards them. The Jedi had an abashed expression on her face and sank slowly down into the remaining chair at the table.

"I am sorry," she said to Eilis, prompting the older woman to arch an eyebrow. "We do need to find a way off this planet but…"

"But what?" growled Canderous in Basic. "Don't want to trust a Mandalorian?"

Bastila looked at him and replied, "It is not that you're a Mandalorian. It is that you're a mercenary."

Canderous laughed then looked at Eilis, speaking again in Mandalorian.

"_Your Jedi Princess doesn't trust me_."

Eilis shrugged and said, "_Doesn't matter to me. Now, can you get me a meeting with Davik?_"

"_Sure. You just have to break into the Sith base and get the launch codes we'll need to get off planet. Think you can pull that one?"_

The smuggler grinned and leaned across the table, saying, "_You're talking to the woman that smuggled a whole Hutt's treasury out from under his nose while having him think I was collecting things to smuggle for him. If I can't get in a Sith base, then I'm not worth a cred of my reputation._"

"_We've got a deal then_," said Canderous, extending a hand across the table. "_There's a droid Janice Nall has, a T3 model Davik paid for. He can help you get in the base._"

Bastila looked disturbed as Eilis slipped her hand into his large one and gripped it.

"_We've got a deal. I'll meet you back here in two days with the codes._"

The Mandalorian nodded and Eilis rose, toasting him with what was left in her glass before downing it. She grimaced and hissed, "Sithspit!" before turning to leave the cantina. Bastila rose quickly and followed her, her expression a worried one.

"How do you know we can trust this Mandalorian?"

"Why, Bastila," purred Eilis, "is that a bit of racism I sense?"

"I'm being serious!"

"So am I."

The Jedi gave her an exasperated look then said, "I sense that we can trust him for now. But who knows if we may later? Are you willing to risk that?"

"To get off this planet?" asked Eilis as they got in the elevator to the Uppercity. "Yeah, I'm willing to trust him. I've met Mandalorians that aren't even worth the name anymore but this one…this one I think is the real deal."

"Would that not be a…" Eilis cut the Jedi off as they exited the elevator past its Sith guard then let her speak again as they walked towards the apartment building. "…bad thing?"

"That he acts like a real Mandalorian? Not in my opinion. They had a lot of honor and they fought their battles for the glory of it, not over something really trivial. Those are real warriors."

Bastila frowned at her for a moment then said, "You seem to know a lot about Mandalorians for a simple smuggler."

Eilis shrugged.

"My mom was a language buff. She liked to learn them and study the culture behind them. That's why I know so much."

"Ah."

The two women walked in silence towards the apartments, the only sound the voices of people around them and the random ship flying overhead. As they got in the elevator, Bastila turned to the older woman.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, why not?"

"What happened before you found me?"

Eilis shrugged and replied, "Crashed, wandered, made a few cred's playing Pazaak, rescued a Wookiee, stole back a swoop accelerator, raced said swoop, then rescued the most annoying Jedi in the galaxy. Oh and that was a compliment by the way."

Bastila tried to frown but found she couldn't when the older woman was smiling disarmingly at her. It was just hard to do…

"Yes, but you avoided detection by the Sith, discovered I was a Vulkar prisoner, and ended up racing for their rivals. That's quite the list of accomplishments."

Eilis shrugged again.

"Hey, it wasn't just me. Flyboy helped and so did Mission and Zaalbar. I didn't do it all on my own."

"Perhaps not," said Bastila. "But you were the catalyst."

Eilis frowned as the elevator stopped and turned towards the Jedi as the doors opened. "What's your point?" she asked.

"I requested you join the _Endar Spire_ because of your smuggling background. But all of this…this is more than I expected from you. It would have taken a Jedi drawing heavily on the Force in order to get as far as you have this quickly."

"What are you saying?"

"The Force works through all of us, Eilis. And it works very strongly through you."

Eilis arched an eyebrow then said, "You're implying…"

Bastila shook her head and replied, "If you were younger the Council might take you for training. As you are now…well, I'm getting into things best left to them."

"You're saying I could be trained to be a Jedi, aren't you?"

"I will say no more."

Eilis glared mildly at the younger woman and left the elevator, striding towards their apartment. Bastila was right behind her, wondering if what she had just said was the best thing. She still didn't know what the Council wanted her to do with this woman…

The apartment door slid open and Eilis strode in, a slightly grim look on her face. Carth rose to his feet in alarm and started to speak but Mission beat him to it.

"Eilis! Is something wrong?"

"No," replied the smuggler. "We've got clear access to a ship that can get us off this heap. The problem is we have to get the launch codes to get off planet without being shot down."

Carth frowned at that then said, "Those codes are…"

"In the Sith base, I know," said Eilis. "There's a droid we can get that'll get us in with no problems."

"Beep beep bop!"

"AT, I'm sure you could get in fine on your own. But I've got a feeling we're going to need that droid." She then smiled at the circular droid and said, "Besides, I've got a bigger job for you."

Carth frowned at that and looked between her and the droid for a moment. Then he looked at her and began, "You're not…"

"Oh, but I am."

"What?" asked Mission, her lekku twisting about her neck. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to send AT into the base to get the codes," replied Eilis with a smirk. "If that droid shop has the right tools, I can make us a screen so we can watch his progress through his photoreceptor – it's not hard, I've done it before – and tell him where to go if we need to."

"You're sending him in there alone?" asked Bastila.

"I've sent AT in a Hutt's fortress before and he came out unscathed. I think he can handle a few Sith, right, buddy?"

"Beep bop!"

"Right," said Eilis. "Anyone else got a problem with my plan?"

"_I think it is a wise move_," said Zaalbar. "_Any one of us could easily die if we were to enter there._" Eilis noticed the big Wookiee glance over at Mission and nodded in agreement.

"Your absolutely right, Zaalbar. And thanks for the vote of confidence."

"_You are welcome._"

Carth sighed and shook his head, saying, "I don't think this is a good idea but if you insist, beautiful."

"Of course I insist, flyboy," said Eilis, winking at him. "Didn't you tell me this is my show?"

"Still is, beautiful."

"Okay then!" exclaimed the smuggler, rubbing her hands together. "We've got a droid to go get and some surveillance equipment to set up. AT, how's your flamethrower?"

"Bop brip beep boop."

"And we need a flamethrower. Oh, and an extra stealth generator I can modify just in case AT needs it."

"What are we waiting for then?" asked Mission excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Nothing," replied Eilis. She then grinned at the assembled group and chirped, "C'mon, folks. Time's a wastin'."

------

"Okay, AT, try that door up ahead. From these schematics you sent through, it looks like it's an elevator."

"Beep bop brr!"

"What was that?" asked Carth, looking down at T3-M4.

Eilis frowned from where she sat in front of her impromptu surveillance system and replied, "He said that there's two droid's in the room before you get to the elevator. He noticed it when he hacked into the system."

"Will AT be okay?" asked Mission, who had gotten rather attached to the little droid.

The smuggler bared her teeth in a parody of a grin and replied, "He may be small but he's got a hell of a punch."

On the screen, the apartment residents watched as the door opened and two shielded combat droid's appeared. The droid's pointed their weapons at the little droid then AT beeped something and they stood down.

"What?" said a shocked Bastila.

"He's also a brilliant little droid," said Eilis. "I think he may have switched his codes a bit when he hacked into that security desk. So he could make them enough like their droid's that he wouldn't be shot."

"Smart droid," commented Carth.

T3 whistled in agreement.

They watched as AT entered the elevator then all gasped as they discovered that the room it led to was occupied. The man residing within the room was tall, fit, bald, and had a double-bladed Echani staff.

"What is this?" they heard him say, taking a step towards AT. "You aren't one of our droid's."

"_Droyk_," hissed Eilis. "AT, get to where he can't hit you!"

The droid beeped an affirmative and suddenly their view was of high above the man, who was now shouting at the droid and for guards. Eilis quickly unhooked her datapad from the surveillance system and checked to make sure the base schematics were in it before she shoved it into a slot on her belt. She then went over to the footlocker where they'd stored the various weaponry they'd gathered on Taris and dug out several grenades before heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Mission even as Bastila and Carth began to follow the smuggler.

"I'm going to go save my droid," growled Eilis in reply. "And if that man harms a circuit of his, it'll be the last thing he does."

"I'm going with you," said Carth. Eilis glared at him then smiled and nodded.

"As am I," added Bastila, stepping up beside the pilot.

"Fine," said Eilis. "Let's go."

It took them no time at all to get to and through the Sith base to the elevator. AT had sprung several traps while he was going through the base and had killed several of the Sith soldiers by causing nearby generators to explode. The one's he couldn't get that way, he'd locked behind doors.

Eilis practically flew through the base towards the elevator and dove into the room with the two guard droid's despite Carth shouting a warning at her. He cursed and opened fire on the droid's once he was close enough, leaving Bastila to go help the smuggler with her lightsabre.

The Jedi, however, was nearly too shocked to do anything. Eilis taking a running leap though the doorway had already destroyed one droid by her landing on top of it. A gash in its body showed where her vibrosword had destroyed its control cluster.

And her jump had been unconsciously Force propelled.

The other droid the smuggler was currently dancing around, her sword lashing out in a vicious dance that struck its shield at times and its armor at others.

Bastila was suddenly shocked into action when one of the droid's shots grazed the older woman's shoulder and she hurled her lightsabre at the droid as Eilis stumbled back. Sparks flew and a huge gap that showed it's inside suddenly opened. A blaster shot from the corridor struck the gap dead on and the droid fell as its circuits fried.

Carth ran into the room, his blasters in hand, and hurried to Eilis, who was trying to dig a kolto patch out of one of her pouches with her vibrosword still in hand. The pilot put his blasters away and reached around her, taking the patch out of her pouch easily. Blue eyes lifted to glare mildly at him in annoyance and he glared right back.

Then Eilis held out her arm to him and Carth ripped the hole in her sleeve open to get access to the wound. He gripped her elbow as he applied to patch to the burned flesh.

"Thanks, flyboy," said Eilis.

"Welcome, beautiful," replied Carth with a smile. "Now let's go get that droid of yours."

The smuggler nodded and pressed the panel to call the elevator, stepping into it once it came. Then she sent it upwards to where her droid as being attacked with a grim expression on her face. Beside her, Bastila could feel anger rolling off the older woman in waves. But it was controlled with such fierceness that it nearly took the Jedi's breath away.

A Jedi could rarely control anger like that.

The elevator doors opened then and they saw the man standing there with his back to them, with two armored soldiers on either side of him shooting their blasters at AT.

"HEY!" shouted Eilis, causing all three to turn. "Shoot my droid again and it'll be the last thing you shoot."

The two soldiers lifted their blasters but Carth was far quicker and more accurate, nailing both in the eye slit of their helmets.

"Impressive," said the man as the two corpses fell at his feet. He then looked at Bastila and Eilis and continued, "Who would have thought Force Adepts were on this insignificant planet? Oh, how I'll enjoy this. Your talents are no match for the Dark Side!"

Bastila spun her double-blade, the yellow blades gleaming.

"You're fooling yourself."

"Am I?" said the man, stretching out one hand. Carth gagged suddenly, dropping his right blaster to clutch at his throat. Eilis saw this out of the corner of her eye and Bastila felt her anger begin to rage out of control.

"You lobotomized Gammorean!" she howled, rushing at him. Her blade struck his in a flurry of sparks and he smiled at her.

"Killing you three will be all I need," he hissed to her. "My master will grant me my lightsabre for this…"

"He won't if you're _dead!_" snarled Eilis, switching her grip on her sword. The man smirked as her left hand gripped the hilt, expecting her to be weaker in that hand. To his dismay, she wasn't.

He didn't expect the punch that she threw at his temple either.

Bastila watched in awe as the punch from the diminutive woman sent the much larger man sprawling. She then sprang forward as he rose again, attacking him with her lightsabre in a flurry as Eilis coaxed AT down.

"Get the codes!" the smuggler shouted at the droid before she dove into the battle again. The man's blade dropped towards her and she used her right arm to block it, fully enjoying his look of dismay when the force he put behind the blow didn't cause it to go through her arm. Then he felt the kiss of Bastila's lightsabre on his leg and lashed out at both of them with the Force, throwing them backwards.

Eilis rolled with her new momentum and landed in a crouch that she sprang out of an instant later. She landed and spun around, blocking his sword with hers then slamming half the full momentum of a roundhouse kick into his side. Her foot ached from striking his armor but he staggered off balance because of it, allowing a newly arisen Bastila to get another throw at him.

He dodged the lightsabre and slashed at Eilis again, this time slicing through the light armor on her stomach and drawing a line of blood. The smuggler hissed and lashed out with her right arm again, this time towards his chest. Her fist collided with his armor and dented it deeply enough to shatter several of his ribs.

He bellowed in pain and hurled her across the room into a control panel with the Force. This time she couldn't roll with it and slammed into the panel hard. She heard something crack in her back and screamed in pain as her body started to slide towards the floor. Digging her hands into the panel, she willed herself not to move.

"Now, the end," she heard the man say and looked up to see him starting towards her. Behind him, Bastila started forward with her lightsabre but it was a blaster shot that went straight through the man's temple that stopped him. As his body collapsed, Carth came into view on his hands and knees, his blaster smoking. He looked up at her in the midst of coughing and smiled slightly – a smile that she returned.

"Beep bop!"

"AT's got the codes," hissed Eilis as softly as she could, closing her eyes. Every time she breathed, something in her torso burned fire through her nerves. "Let's get out of here."

"You're hurt," she heard Carth say, his voice raspy from being choked. She felt his hands touch her sides and screamed as he tried to lift her up. "Bad."

"I may be able to heal her a little," said Bastila, looking worriedly down at the injured smuggler.

"Do it," said Carth and Eilis felt something began to sift around inside her, fixing pieces of what was broken. She winced as bits of her ribs snapped back into place and held back a shriek of pain as several broken vertebrae abruptly reset themselves.

The presence inside her faded then and she heard Bastila say, "I've done all I can."

"We'll have to take her to Zelka," said Carth and Eilis felt his hands again. She dimly felt her body being lifted into his arms trough the haze of pain that had overcome all of her senses. "Stay with me, beautiful."

Eilis tried to open her eyes and smile reassuringly at him but she was certain what little she'd managed of that had looked horrible.

"Ain't goin' nowhere, flyboy," she muttered before her mind finally gave into the pain and sent her into blissful unconsciousness.

Carth stared down at her now limp body in his arms for a moment then forced his own aching body into a run once the elevator had returned them to the regular floor of the base.

He'd already allowed one woman to die in his arms.

He wasn't about to let another do the same.

------

Canderous arched an eyebrow as Eilis sank into the seat across from him with a wince. He saw the Republic pilot hovering behind her take a step forward, a worried look on his face, but she waved him off. The pilot nodded and stepped back, turning his dark eyes towards Canderous.

The Mandalorian wasn't surprised to find dislike burning in them.

"Have some trouble?" he asked the smuggler across from him.

"Yeah," growled Eilis through the pain still lancing occasionally through her ribs. "Some Dark Jedi wannabe was on guard duty. He took it unto himself to decide that I wanted a sudden meeting with a nearby control panel."

The fact that she was making jokes through her obvious pain told him that she was strong. And proud. She obviously didn't like showing people that she was weak.

He glanced towards her other companions, who had taken up a nearby table. The Jedi Princess was watching them intently while a blue Twi'lek and a big Wookiee were arguing over something with the astromech droid he'd told her to go buy. Another droid, this one circular and powered by a repulsorlift, floated past them to hover by her shoulder.

"You get the codes?" he asked, turning his gaze back towards her.

Eilis smiled and replied, "Wouldn't be here if I didn't. When do we go see Davik?"

Canderous sat silent for a moment then said, "Now if you want."

"We really shouldn't," said the pilot suddenly. "You're still not completely healed."

"We've got no choice," said Eilis back to him. "The Sith were bound to have surveillance in that base. They know what we look like. If we don't get out of here now, we may never get the chance."

Canderous watched the pilot's face go through a variety of emotions until finally settling on grim acceptance.

"Alright. It's your call, beautiful."

He arched an eyebrow at the nickname then nodded when Eilis turned to him and said, "We'll go now."

"Good," said Canderous. "I've got a speeder sitting outside. The plan is get in, have a little chat with Davik, then get his ship the _Ebon Hawk_, and get the rest of your crew later."

"That sound risky," said the pilot.

"Any plan's risky, Republic," shot Canderous. He then said to Eilis, "You and me'll have to go in alone."

"No way in hell am I letting you go in alone with him!"

"Carth," said the smuggler, touching the hand the pilot had gripped the back of her chair with. "We've got no choice."

Canderous watched in amusement as the pilot's jaw jumped at those words. Then Republic relaxed and shook his head, saying, "I don't like this."

"I know."

Eilis then said to Canderous, "Let's go."

The Mandalorian nodded and rose from his seat, earning a glare from the pilot as he walked past him. He smiled in amusement as the smuggler touched the man's arm and he calmed slightly.

The man was on a short leash it seemed.

He then found Eilis standing beside him outside and nodded to her before climbing into the speeder. She carefully climbed in beside him and sat back with only a nod to him, even though he knew the movement had to hurt her.

_I think I'm going to like working with this one_, he thought as he started up the speeder and headed towards Davik's estate.

------

"Eilis O'Bren," said Davik with a smile as she and Canderous stopped in front of him. But she noticed his smile was cold and his eyes didn't reflect it either.

Though if he was trying to scare her, he'd have to do better than a cold smile.

"You've got quite the reputation, Miss O'Bren," he said, eying her body. She held herself back from punching him into the next system but she'd remember to make an attempt to do so if she saw him after stealing his ship. No one eyed her like she was a slab of meat! He then smiled that cold smile again and added, "Though I'd heard you were working for the Republic now."

The way he said 'Republic' told her that this man, like most she'd worked for, didn't care about anyone but himself.

"Yeah, well," she said offhandedly, "they caught me. It was either get tossed in a cell or work with them. Which would _you_ have chosen, Mister Kang?"

"I doubt I would have been caught in the first place, Miss O'Bren. Now, what exactly is it you want?"

"Well, I've escaped from those pig brained Republic's, so I figured I'd get back on my feet by working with you." She smiled coyly and purred, "I hear you've got the fastest ship around."

"Indeed I do. Though it's unfortunately grounded because of this blockade."

Davik started to walk and Eilis fell in step beside him, Canderous following behind her. Calo Nord, who she'd noticed standing behind Davik, stepped in line with the Mandalorian.

"Not like you to take on partners, Canderous," she heard the small man say. "You're getting soft."

"Shut up, Calo. You may be the newest kathhound in the pack but you're far from top dog."

Davik stopped and turned to glare at both of them.

"_Enough!_ I will not have my top men at each other's throats. I'm sure Canderous had a good reason for taking on a partner."

Eilis felt his eyes roam over her again and she had to fight hard to keep the anger out of her eyes. Instead she smiled warmly at Canderous and said, "Oh, yes. He can be _awfully_ persuasive."

She saw the lust grow in Davik's eyes and found Canderous smirking at her, amusement glinting in his gray eyes. The look on Calo's face was a mix of astonishment and rage.

"Come now," said Davik. "I'll show you around the grounds."

An hour later, Eilis was washing her face in the 'fresher of the room Davik had given her. Canderous suddenly appeared in the doorway and said, "You're an impressive actor."

"Have to be in my line of work." She then winced as she stood up and corrected herself. "In my _ex_-line of work, I mean."

The Mandalorian shrugged and said, "It's still your line of work. You're just not doing it right now."

"I suppose," said Eilis as she dried off her face. Then she looked at him and said, "That ship definitely has some security systems. He's likely got some codes we'll have to get past to even fly her out of here."

"How do you figure that?" asked Canderous as she walked back out into the room past him.

"It's what I'd do. Ship like that and a bunch of mercenaries and bounty hunter's on my payroll? If there wasn't good security on her, someone would have stolen her long ago."

She then frowned and scratched her chin, wondering aloud, "But where would be find those codes?"

Suddenly she remembered Davik mentioning something about needing a new pilot as they'd left the hangar the _Ebon Hawk_ was stored in. And there had been screaming coming from behind one of the rooms they'd passed by…

"I think I have an idea," she said.

"Good," said Canderous, lifting his repeating blaster from where it hung along his back and shooting the door panel. The locked door slid open and an alarm immediately began to blare. "We've got maybe twenty minutes before the guards arrive."

"I could have picked the lock, you know," she growled as they ran from the room.

"Would've taken too long."

Eilis snorted then slammed the door panel that lead to what seemed to be the main room of Davik's compound, which was devoid of any life. Turning to the door directly to her left, she opened it and drew her vibrosword as two Rodian's on the crime boss' payroll turned towards them.

Canderous' blaster shouts resounded in her ears as she sprang forward, jumping onto the table in the center of the room and running down the length of it. She leapt off the end and slammed feet first into one of the Rodian's, both of them collapsing to the floor. As he tried to get up, her right hand came hurtling down onto his throat in two quick jabs, which caused it to collapse under the onslaught.

With a snarl, she flung herself towards the other Rodian, who drew a vibroblade in defense. Their blades clashed for mere seconds before her blade found his throat and his head rolled from his shoulders.

The impressed look in Canderous' eyes as they continued through the fortress made her smile slightly. Her boss' had always been impressed with her fighting skill but she'd never had a real warrior be impressed with them. And her father, who'd taught her how to fight, had told her that when a warrior was impressed with you, you were doing well.

The corridor they were running down shook suddenly and Eilis staggered to a halt, fighting to keep upright.

"What the _skrag_ was that?" she exclaimed.

"I don't know," replied Canderous darkly. "But it doesn't sound like something we want to stick around for."

"On that we both agree."

With that they were running again until Eilis slapped the door panel of the room she'd heard the screams coming from. The door opened and two droid's turned towards them, their implements of torture extended on their spindly arms.

Canderous opened fire on then and Eilis dove into the room, her vibrosword slashing ruthlessly as she ducked the droid's flailing arms. She spun away from an arm that held a nasty looking device and Canderous' blaster took out the droid. The other one was already on the ground, its arms flailing feebly. Eilis strode over to it and kicked it in the center of its photoreceptor. Immediately the droid stopped moving and fell over as it shut down.

The smuggler quickly ran over to a console and turned off the force cage that a man was trapped in. Canderous caught the man before he collapsed and she hurried over to inject him with one of her medpac's. The kolto seemed to revive the man and he looked up at her, forcing a smile.

"Th-thank you," he stammered, standing on his own feet now. He looked nervously towards Canderous, who towered menacingly over him, blaster held at ready. "Y-you have n-no idea what it was l-l-like in that cage."

"Trust me," said Eilis, her memory flicking back to several times when she'd been a guest of such devices. "I know what it's like. And no one should suffer like that."

The man looked at her then asked, "D-do you have a datapad?"

Eilis nodded and handed him hers, into which he typed something before handing it back.

"Th-those are the codes to the _Ebon Hawk_. I w-was it's p-pilot before Davik threw me in h-here. Take her. Davik doesn't d-deserve her."

"Thank you," said Eilis. "This was just what we needed."

The pilot nodded then limped out of the room, leaving them alone with the two broken droid's.

Another explosion suddenly rocked the complex and Canderous growled, "Let's get out of here."

Eilis nodded and they were off again, running back the way they had come. She dispatched a human mercenary who had appeared in a side door by punching him in the cheek hard enough to spin him around. As they continued down the corridor, Canderous eyed her right arm speculatively.

"That's not a normal arm," he commented as she began to hack into the security system around the hangar.

"No, it's not," she replied, tearing two wires apart and tying them to two other wires. She glanced at the door and cursed before tugging at different sections and finally pressing a ripped wire down onto a circuit board. The hangar door shuddered then slid open, to which she grinned. "Ha!"

They sprinted out into the hangar and were running up the _Hawk_'s loading ramp when Eilis heard a voice from behind them.

"Damn those Sith! They're bombing the entire planet. I knew they'd turn on us…"

_So that's what's causing all the explosions_, thought Eilis, pausing on the ramp. _We have to hurry._

"Well, what do we have here?" she heard Davik say suddenly and turned to stare right at him. "Thieves in the hangar! Let me guess, you're here to steal my ship and leave me while the Sith bomb this place to dust?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" chirped Eilis.

"I'll take care of them, Davik," said Calo. He pulled something out of his coat and Eilis gasped.

"You're mad! You'll take all of us out with that thing!"

Calo smiled and said, "Oh well." His finger came down on the trigger of a thermal detonator and suddenly he was gone, buried under a caved in a portion of the hangar's ceiling.

"_Di'kut,_" she heard Canderous comment behind her. If they'd been in any other situation, she would have laughed.

Davik lifted his blaster then and Eilis dove back into the _Hawk_, dragging Canderous with her and slapped the panel to close the ramp. The crime boss frowned then looked behind him at a slight beeping sound. From the pile of rubble, the thermal detonator blinked at him and he cursed.

Eilis ran towards the cockpit of the ship, dimly hearing the sound of the thermal detonator going off and something (that was likely the crime lord's body) hitting the hull of the ship. She sank into the pilot's seat and tapped in the security codes the previous pilot had given her. Immediately the console in front of her came on and she powered up the ship as quick as she could.

"This whole place is coming down around us!" bellowed Canderous as he stormed into the cockpit.

"I know!" shouted Eilis. She flicked one last switch on and grabbed the ship's yoke, pulling slightly back on it. Beneath her, the ship rumbled to life and she felt it rise into the air. Something clanged on the hull, this time metal, and she heard Canderous curse vehemently in Mandalorian as she shoved the yoke forward.

They shot out of the hangar into a midst of laser fire and she cursed in five different languages as she dodged them. Canderous sank into the co-pilot's seat then and strapped himself in, growling, "You'd damn well better know how to fly this thing."

"I'm not a Republic fighter pilot or anything but I know how to fly!" shouted Eilis, jerking the yoke hard enough to make the ship spin entirely around. She then shoved her datapad at him and hissed, "Now punch in those launch codes! We don't need anything else shooting at us when we get the hell off this rock!"

The Mandalorian complied and Eilis hurled the customized freighter between the buildings of Taris before setting her down right outside the apartments. She quickly switched on the communicator she and Carth still had from the _Endar Spire_ and shouted, "Get outside now and on this ship if you want to get off this planet alive!"

She heard muffled shouting on the other end then Carth calmly said, "We're on our way."

One of the Sith lasers struck the pavement near the freighter and Eilis silently prayed that they wouldn't have the bad luck to get hit. Luck – or the Force – had been with them for this long. Surely it wouldn't give up on them now.

"We're in!" she heard Carth shout from somewhere behind her.

Eilis snarled at that and savagely pulled the _Ebon Hawk_ back into the air. A laser hit the spot where they'd been moments before and she spun the ship in a complete 180-degree turn that had them heading towards the sky. She then drove the yoke forward and they began to climb into the sky, dodging laser fire as they went.

Dimly, she heard Mission crying from somewhere behind her in the ship and felt a pang for the Twi'lek. Her home was exploding before her eyes and she could do nothing about it. Eilis just hoped Zaalbar was right there with his friend.

Suddenly they cleared the atmosphere of the dying planet and she jerked hard left to avoid going straight through a Sith war ship. The console beeped suddenly and she shouted, "We've got incoming fighters!"

"I'm on it!" shouted Carth from behind her. She heard Canderous get out of the co-pilot's seat and suddenly Bastila filled the space.

The Jedi grabbed onto the console as Eilis made a sickeningly tight move between two Sith fighters then asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Eilis didn't reply for a moment, too caught up in dodging what laser fire she could and still keeping Carth and Canderous in good firing positions. Then she hissed, "Punch in some coordinates."

"Where?"

"_ANYWHERE!_" bellowed the smuggler in response as she pushed the _Ebon Hawk_ into a steep dive. She then tapped the COM system on and shouted, "Boys, I need those fighters gone five minutes ago!"

"We're working on!" she heard Carth shout back.

Canderous just replied with a laugh and she heard his gun discharging in the background.

"He's _enjoying_ this!" gasped Bastila.

"He's a Mandalorian," hissed Eilis as she hurled the freighter into a hard starboard turn. She then flicked a glance down at the console and shouted, "There's two more fighters incoming and if we're not out of here in a few minutes, one of those war ships is going to notice us and then we're dead! So get rid of that last fighter tailing us so we can get out of this fracking hellhole!"

"We'll never make it!" said Bastila.

Eilis snarled in response and howled, "We _will_ make it, damnit! I will _not_ die at the hands of some Sithspawn pilots!"

"Last fighter gone, beautiful!" she heard Carth say what seemed an eternity later.

"Hang on, boys and girls," shouted Eilis as she dived close to the hull of one of the war ships then pulled up to angle the _Ebon Hawk_ off into space, "we're about to jump!"

She checked to make sure they weren't close to the war ships anymore then leaned forward and punched a button on the console in front of her. Instantly the blackness of space streaked around them and the ship jumped slightly. Eilis collapsed breathlessly in the pilot's seat seconds later as the autopilot took over until they reached their destination.

They'd made it.

**Author's Note**

_Teja gra:_ Mandalorian expression of dismay

_Droyk, skrag:_ Corellian swear

_Di'kut:_ Mandalorian "fool"

Planet galaxy locations found on http/www.kolumbus.fi/antti.lusila/starwars/galaxymap.html

Taris is not on this map, therefore, it has an unknown location


	3. Dantooine, Torch Nebula

**Chapter 3: Dantooine, Torch Nebula**

"Where did you set course to?" Eilis asked Bastila when she felt the adrenaline rush of battle begin to fade. Her real hand shook as she released the yoke and she rubbed it against her thigh.

"Dantooine. There's a Jedi Enclave there where we can find refuge."

"Refuge?" said Carth as he stood in the cockpit doorway. "We can't stop anywhere! After what Malak did to Taris…"

"The Sith would think twice about attacking Dantooine," insisted Bastila in a haughty tone. "There are several powerful Jedi there. We'll be safe."

"There is no such thing as safe," whispered Eilis. "My father told me that. Safety is an illusion that makes one unaware of the danger."

She then frowned at the console and unbuckled her safety harness to get a better look.

"_Droyk!_ The starboard shields are gone and the rear are only running at sixty percent. Not to mention the port one's aren't running at full power either."

"Circuitry in the turret's fried," reported Canderous as he appeared behind Carth, the Republic soldier's expression darkening at the presence of the Mandalorian at his back.

"Looks like that landing on Dantooine is needed," said Eilis, turning the chair so she could look at Carth. "Otherwise I'd agree with your 'keep moving' idea, flyboy. But we've got to get repairs."

Carth sighed at that.

"Alright. Sorry for shouting. It's just not easy to witness the destruction of a planet."

Eilis frowned at she remembered his own homeworld had been bombarded by the Sith then she recalled the cries she'd heard whilst flying.

"Oh Force! Mission!"

Eilis sprang from her seat and pushed past the two men, rushing through the ship in search of the young Twi'lek. She finally found her in the port dormitory, curled into a fetal ball on one of the bunks. Zaalbar sat beside her, a paw on her shoulder and a mournful expression on his furry face.

He then looked up at Eilis' entrance and said, "_No matter what I try, it doesn't comfort her._"

"Oh, Mission." The smuggler dropped to her knees beside the bunk the teenager lay on and laid a gentle hand on her arm. Dark eyes opened and peered at her through a haze of almost palpable sadness. "I'm so sorry."

"E-Eilis?"

Mission lifted her head slightly then lowered it again, her lekku twisted tightly about her neck. She then bit her lower lip and muttered, "It's gone. It's all gone…"

"I know," whispered Eilis, stroking the Twi'lek's arm. She then looked at Zaalbar, who stood up and moved away, and she took the Wookiee's place on the bunk. Cautiously she reached out and began to stroke Mission's forehead. Her mother had once told her something about only a very trusted person or a lover could touch a Twi'lek's lekku and she was cautious about laying her hands on Mission's. She had no idea how much the young Twi'lek trusted her – or if she was remembering her mother's words correctly.

Mission's entire body twitched with a sob and she was suddenly in Eilis' arms, crying into her shoulder. The smuggler hugged the teenager close and rubbed her back, one of her hands eventually moving up to stroke the side of one of her blue lekku. She whispered calming words to her in Twi'leki and waited for the sobs to subside.

When they did, Mission pulled away from her and sat hiccoughing for a moment. Eilis stroked the back of the Twi'lek's hand and saw Zaalbar sit down behind her out of the corner of her eye. The smuggler moved back then and the big Wookiee engulfed the little Twi'lek in a furry hug.

"Th-thank you," stammered Mission, peering out at Eilis from within Zaalbar's embrace.

Eilis smiled and clasped both of the teenager's hands in her own, looking directly into her eyes as she spoke.

"You're a part of this crew now, Mission. That makes us…well, I guess that makes us kind of a family. And, y'know, family's are there for each other no matter what."

Mission nodded then sank back into Zaalbar's embrace, burying her face in the fur on his upper arm. Eilis patted the Wookiee's arm then rose to leave, running into Carth in the doorway. She glanced behind her then gently pushed him out into the corridor, leaving the pair in the port dormitory alone.

Once there, she looked up at him and asked, "Want something?"

"Was wondering where you went," he replied. Then he smiled and said, "That was a nice thing you said to her."

Eilis shrugged helplessly and said, "It was all I could think to say. I mean, what else _could_ I say? Tell her everything would be okay? The only home she really knew just got battered into dust!"

Carth frowned and looked down at the floor panels between them.

"I know how that feels."

"Carth…"

"I'm going to go see what I can do with the shields," he said suddenly, moving away from her. She was suddenly aware that her hands had been on his chest through their entire conversation and her cheeks flushed in reaction. Mentally she scolded herself for such a schoolgirl reaction before going after him.

"No, wait," she said, reaching out to grasp his arm. "Lemme take care of them. I'm the tech here, remember?"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Do your job, flyboy," she replied with a small smirk as she moved past him. "Fly."

Carth turned to watch her as she walked down the corridor, his eyes straying slightly towards her leather-clad backside. He then shook his head and headed towards the cockpit.

------

"So the Princess has gone to meet with the old men?"

"Supposedly," yawned Eilis. She stretched both arms above her head, fingers interlocked, leaning back in the co-pilot's chair and started to bring them down when a large hand caught her right arm. Tilting her head back, she glared up at Canderous, who was frowning at her arm.

"We got a problem?"

"You never answered me," he said, releasing her arm.

Eilis frowned and sat silent for a moment then replied, "It's a droid arm."

"That's an odd false limb. If I'm not mistaken you have to be pretty poor to not get a synthetic replacement."

"I lost it during a smuggling job when I was twenty. My father and I were loading high explosives when one of the bantha brain's we'd paid to help threw a cigarra butt amongst them." She shrugged and continued, "My father threw himself on top of me before the explosion went off. I lost my arm, he lost his life protecting me."

"And the bantha?"

Eilis shuddered slightly, gripping her right arm in remembrance.

"He was in our ship during the explosion and ran off afterwards. The local authorities never found him and they tried to arrest me when they found out what we were smuggling. As you can tell, they didn't succeed. And you can't really get a synthetic arm if you tell them the reason you lost it was because you were smuggling high explosives and they went ka-blooey. I know, I tried."

"Quite the tale," said Canderous. He then turned as Carth entered the cockpit and said, "Republic."

"Ordo," said Carth shortly.

Canderous snorted then said to Eilis, "We'll talk later." With that he was gone, leaving the pilot and smuggler alone in the cockpit.

"What did he want?" asked Carth after a moment, leaning his shoulder against the wall.

"He was asking about my arm," replied Eilis, shifting in her seat. "Nothing major." She then turned the chair towards him and frowned at him.

"You look troubled, Carth."

He frowned now and growled, "Not another interrogation."

"What are you getting so upset about!" she demanded, rising from her seat. "All I did was make an observation! _Ugh!_ You infuriating man!"

She tried to storm past him but he grabbed her shoulders, keeping her from moving past.

"_What!_" she snapped, blue eyes flashing towards him.

"Look!" he said, frowning down at her. "I'm sorry." He sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. "It seems like every time we try and talk, we end up arguing."

"So it seems," said Eilis, reaching up to brush an errant lock of hair behind her ear. She then smirked and added, "Though its always your fault."

"My…oh no, sister, you're not blaming all of this on me."

"It's true."

Carth frowned at her then shook his head, saying, "You're an impossible woman."

Eilis just smiled at him then scuffed the toe of her boot on the floor panels of the cockpit. "Um…about that interrogation…"

"What about it?" asked Carth, his tone suddenly shifting back to annoyed.

"Carth, I just want to know more about you. C'mon. I'll answer anything you ask me!"

He looked at her for a moment then sighed, muttering, "You always seem to get everything out of me no matter how hard I resist."

Eilis smiled.

"It's my womanly charms. So tell! Anything at all!"

_It's something, alright_, thought the pilot. Then he ran a hand back through his hair and said, "Y'know, five years ago Revan and Malak were the heroes of the Republic. They'd put the Mandalorians on the run and I…I was proud to serve in their fleet."

"Then they turned on us. We never expected them – our heroes – to turn on us. But it wasn't _them_ turning that really hurt; it was the men that went with them, good men who joined their cause and betrayed the Republic without a backwards glance." He clenched his fists and spat, "All of them – Revan, Malak, the Sith – they deserve to die. And the traitors deserve worse."

Eilis looked up at him for a long moment then said, "You say that with such hatred."

Carth sighed and said, "Yeah. When I think about all those men that went to them, I see just one face: Saul Karath."

"_Admiral_ Saul Karath? Isn't he the head of Malak's fleet?"

"That's him. He was my commanding officer, my mentor, my…_friend_. He taught me everything about being a soldier and I looked up to him." He shook his head and continued, "He approached me before he left too. Told me the Republic was on the losing side and that I should start thinking of my survival. I didn't know then but now I realize he was trying to recruit me into the Sith. Back then…it seemed impossible. He'd led the Republic to so many victories against the Mandalorians when things looked the worst."

"I argued with him and he left…after that I never saw him again. Then that traitor not only joined the Sith, he gave them the codes to bypass our scanners. I woke up to find Saul's fleet bombing Telos, our ships on the ground wiped out before my eyes. That was when I knew what had happened."

He shook with anger at himself and muttered, "I could have stopped it."

Eilis laid a hand gingerly on his arm. She then looked up into his face and asked, "Do you really believe that, Carth?"

"I-I don't know. I might have killed him, he might have killed me. But…I've followed his trail ever since then, hoping…hoping I'd get the chance to make him regret what he's done."

"Carth, I…I don't know what to say." She shook her head, saying, " 'I'm sorry' just seems so hollow."

"There's more but…I…"

Eilis slipped her fingers over his lips and said, "I understand." She then smiled and grabbed his hand, saying, "C'mon. It does neither of us any good to stay cooped up in this ship. Let's go get some air."

Carth nodded and followed her, his hand still clasped in hers. He felt part of him warm at the contact with her but another part hated himself for allowing it. What would _she_ think of him?

_She's dead,_ hissed a voice in his head.

_But I'm still here_, thought Carth as Eilis led him down the ramp into the Jedi Enclave's landing zone.

------

"So you are the one who rescued Bastila," said one of the four Jedi Master's, this one the Twi'lek. "I am Master Zhar."

"Um, hi," said Eilis, not quite knowing what to do with herself in the presence of these four. She was just a smuggler, what the heck was she doing here! Her gaze flicked to Bastila and she wondered what the hell the Jedi had gotten her into.

"These are Masters Vrook and Vandar," she heard the Twi'lek say and followed his motioning hand. Her eyes first fell on an older human who looked at her with dislike in his eyes and then on a small, olive colored alien. She didn't recognize the species but he seemed trustworthy and _he_ wasn't looking at her like she was bantha fodder.

Zhar pointed at the older dark human who stood on the other side of Vandar and finished, "And this is Master Dorak, the chronicler of our academy."

Eilis nodded to all of them then scuffed the sole of her right boot on the floor, earning an exasperated look from Bastila that she ignored.

"What exactly is this about?" she asked, eying the four Master's suspiciously.

"Bastila tells us you have visions, Miss O'Bren," replied Vandar.

Eilis' gaze darted to Bastila then back to the Master's. How did they know that! She hadn't told anyone about those strange dreams about Jedi!

"I sense confusion in you, young one," said the small Master. "Perhaps you did not know Bastila shared these dreams with you?"

"_What!_" exploded Eilis. "How? How is that possible?"

"A strong bond you and Bastila have, obviously forged when you saved her life."

"Oh, so she finally admitted it, eh?"

Bastila blushed as the older woman looked smugly towards her. Then Vrook spoke up, saying, "Be careful, child. Pride leads to the Dark Side."

"I'm no Jedi," said Eilis, bristling slightly at being called 'child'.

"But you are strong in the Force," said Zhar.

"Master Zhar speaks out of turn," said Vrook, frowning at the Twi'lek who stared right back. "We need undeniable proof of her affinity to the Force before we even consider training her!"

"Hmm, think about this we shall then," mused Vandar. "You may return to your ship, young one. We shall call you when we have finished."

"Alright," said Eilis, turning to walk out. As she exited the chamber, she wondered why Vandar calling her 'young one' didn't annoy her. Generally people calling her things like that made her fighting mad but somehow when the little alien did it, it seemed…right.

"Eilis!"

The smuggler turned and found Bastila jogging up to her just before she reached the door to head back out into the Enclave. She knew Carth was standing right beyond it and at the moment all she wanted was to grab him and go for a walk again. The one she'd dragged him on the day before had seemed to relax both of them and right now her brain was in such shambles that she needed it.

"What was said in this room does not leave it," she dimly heard Bastila say. "Do you understand?"

Eilis frowned then growled, "Damn secretive Jedi," and turned to leave. But the younger woman's hand on her arm stayed her momentarily.

"Eilis…"

"Fine, I'll keep your damn secrets!" spat Eilis, jerking her arm away from the brunette. "Now leave me alone. I need to clear my head."

"Very well," said Bastila, allowing the older woman to move away.

Eilis slapped the door panel and rushed through it the moment there was space, taking quick brisk steps away from the chamber that caused so much confusion in her. Carth pushed himself off the wall when he saw her and grabbed her wrist, halting her momentum and tugging her towards him. He frowned at her then looked up at Bastila in the doorway before glancing back down.

"What happened in there?" he asked.

"I was told not to discuss it," growled Eilis, her ire telling Carth that she wasn't too agreeable with the idea.

"Right." He frowned towards Bastila, who gave him a helpless look. Turning away from her, he placed a hand on the small of Eilis' back and steered her towards the open courtyard of the Enclave. "You don't look too happy with that."

"I'm not. Jedi are the most secretive bastard's in the galaxy and I don't fancy becoming one of them."

"Becoming one…what are you talking about?"

Eilis smiled wryly and said, "Whoops. There went one of those things I wasn't supposed to talk about."

Carth gaped at her for a moment then laughed, causing two Padawan's walking by to look at them oddly. He then looked down at her with amusement in his brown eyes and said, "You're something else, beautiful."

"Mmm, don't I know it." She then grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the exit to the outside of the Enclave. "C'mon, flyboy, I need a walk to clear my head."

"You sure you want company?"

"Well I need _somebody_ to help me beat back the kathhounds, don't I?"

"Oh, so _that's_ what I'm for…"

Eilis laughed and he found himself smiling as she continued to tug him towards the outside.

------

"Ugh…"

"You look like you've seen a ghost," commented ?xml:namespace prefix st1 ns "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" / Mission as Eilis staggered into the common area of the _Ebon Hawk_.

Carth looked up from where he'd been sifting through a datapad and hurriedly stood, motioning the smuggler to his chair. As she sank into it with a moan, he said, "I'll get you some caffa. You look like you could use it."

"You're an angel," muttered Eilis, her fingers rubbing into her temple to try and dissuade the pounding headache she had. It faded slightly and she let her arms fall into her lap. Her droid arm clanged lightly against the metal between the chair and it's counterpart and she remembered that she hadn't changed out of the sleeveless shirt and baggy pants she'd slept in yet.

Carth returned then and pressed a steaming mug into her hands, which she took gratefully. She swallowed some of it and grimaced, saying, "Remind me to fix that thing. It makes horrid caffa."

He smiled then crouched beside her chair, his eyes worried.

"Want to talk about it?"

Eilis frowned and twisted the mug in her hands, her mechanical fingers clattering on its sides. She then shook her head slightly and muttered, "I'd rather just forget it all," before downing the rest of the mug's contents. "_Gah!_"

She looked at Carth then and found him with a closed expression on his face and sighed.

"Carth…"

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it," he said softly. "I'm just…worried about you."

The smuggler smiled and reached out to pat his hand, saying, "Oh, don't worry about little ole' me, flyboy. I was making the Corellian Run when I was sixteen, remember?"

"And you called _me_ a kid?" said Mission to Carth, her lekku twitching.

Carth groaned and Eilis smiled before slipping out of the chair to stretch. She then looked down at him and asked, "Where is everybody?"

"Bastila ran off to the Council this morning after waking up looking about as worse for wear as you, Zaalbar is off getting food as far as any of us know and the Mandalorian is in the swoop hangar."

Eilis sighed and said, "He has a _name_, Carth."

"Right." He ran a hand back through his hair and said, "By the way, Bastila mentioned something about you meeting with the Council again today."

"Great. What wonderful news to wake up to."

Carth smiled grimly in agreement then said, "Get dressed and I'll walk you over. That make you feel better?"

"'Course it does, flyboy," purred Eilis, rising on her toes to kiss his cheek. He blushed slightly in response and she smirked as she walked back towards the port dormitory that the women on the ship had claimed. Behind her, she heard Mission giggling hysterically and Carth stammering something in response to a comment she made.

Oh, how much fun it was to mess with the poor pilot…

------

"Bastila has told us that you shared a dream last night," said Vandar the moment she stopped in the center of the chamber. "A dream of Revan and Malak within the ancient ruins on this planet."

Eilis' eyes flicked towards the Jedi standing nearby and she asked, "What about it?"

"The ruins nearby are a mystery to us," said Dorak. "We've suspected them to be burial mounds but it seems they may be more due to Revan and Malak's interest in them."

"They were searching for something," said Eilis, the dream replaying itself in her mind. But for some reason it felt…it felt almost like a memory rather than a dream. "Something that would get them exiled for their actions." She then shook the dream back into the depths of her mind and asked, "Is that all?"

"I fear not, young one," said Vandar, causing the smuggler's blood to turn to ice. "We have come to a decision on our precious discussion."

"Have you now?"

"Indeed," said Zhar. "We have decided we must train you as a Jedi."

The words struck Eilis like a raging Wookiee and she frowned.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked, her temper rising slightly.

"There is always a choice," said Vandar. He then pointed a tiny, clawed hand at her and continued, "But what if you can make a difference, hmm? Would you be able to live with yourself if you knew you could have changed things?"

Eilis chuckled and smile at the little alien, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Why, Master Vandar…blackmail from a Jedi? I _am_ impressed."

Vandar smiled back at her while Vrook practically exploded beside him.

"You see! She is insolent! We surely cannot train one such as that!"

"It will be hard, yes," said Zhar, raising a hand as Vrook whirled towards him. "But if she is willing to try, I feel she will be successful."

Bastila looked towards Eilis and the smuggler saw the hope that she'd accept in the younger woman's blue-gray eyes.

_I will not do this at her will!_

Then she thought of all the people on Taris, people who a Jedi who was willing to help them might have been able to save.

She thought of Mission, who she hadn't been able to protect from the destruction of her homeworld.

But the thought that cemented it was Carth. She thought of his sworn revenge on Saul Karath and knew somewhere in her gut that by learning to be a Jedi she would really help him. And she wanted nothing more than to help him in any way she could…

"I'll do it," she said softly, looking directly at Vandar as she said it. The little Master smiled in return and inclined his head.

Dorak spoke up then, saying, "Traditionally we do not accept adults for training. You are a special case, however."

_Oh joy,_ thought Eilis.

"You and Bastila share a powerful connection," said Zhar. "You should learn to rely on it."

Eilis nearly scoffed at that but held herself back as Vandar spoke again.

"Whatever dangers lie ahead, we cannot ignore the fact that destiny brought you and Bastila here."

"Okay. So, uh, about this bond…"

"It is a powerful link," explained Vandar. "Together, perhaps, you may be able to put a stop to Malak and the Sith."

Eilis' eyes widened and she saw Bastila's do the same. That was _quite_ the weight to throw on their shoulders out of nowhere.

"The way of the Light is long and difficult," said Vrook, looking into her eyes. "Are you ready for such hardship?"

"Yes."

Vandar nodded and said, "We will begin your training tomorrow. Until then, young one."

------

Eilis walked slowly into the open courtyard after leaving the Master's and sank down onto the short wall that surrounded the great tree in the center of the area. She ran a shaking left hand over her face then looked down at her right hand.

_Will this make things more difficult?_ she thought, staring at her gloved hand. _My not having both arms made of flesh? Are there _any _Jedi that have false limbs?_

"Are you alright?"

The smuggler looked up and found Bastila standing a few feet away, a look of concern on her face. She frowned at her for a moment then shook her head and said, "Fine. It's just…"

"Overwhelming?" offered Bastila.

"Yes." Eilis looked around them and said, "I never in my life believed I'd be sitting in a Jedi Enclave, let alone be told I could be trained. I mean, a smuggler isn't your usual Jedi, is it?"

"There are some that have been something besides a Jedi," said the younger woman, sitting down beside her. "But they are rare."

"Heh. Figures."

Eilis shook her head then rose and stretched a few kinks out of her back. She then looked down at the Jedi and said, "I'm heading back to the _Hawk_."

"Very well."

The smuggler stood there for a moment then started to walk off, only to stop when Bastila called out her name.

"Eilis."

"Yeah?"

"You cannot tell the others."

"Now, see," said Eilis, not turning to face the other woman, "that's where I don't agree with the Jedi. All the secretive _droyk_."

"It is for protection," said Bastila.

"Like not feeling emotions?" shot Eilis, turning to frown at her.

"Yes."

"Another thing I don't agree with. Emotions are what make us human – or Twi'lek or whatever. To deny them is…wrong."

"Those come with being a Jedi," said Bastila, feeling fear well up within her that she quickly smothered.

Eilis shrugged and smiled slightly.

"Guess I won't make a good Jedi then," she said. "'Cause I refuse to stop feeling."

She turned and walked off before Bastila could say another word, leaving the young Jedi sitting in the open courtyard. The brunette sighed and shook her head, thinking, _I have indeed stumbled into a mynock's nest._

------

_Eilis._

"_Sonovamynock!_" shouted Eilis, nearly falling out of the co-pilot's chair. Beside her, Carth leaned over and kept her from falling completely onto the floor by grabbing her arm.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Somebody's in my head," growled Eilis in reply.

_Forgive me_, she heard Bastila 'say' in her head. _But the Council wishes to begin your training._

_Great_, thought Eilis.

_Indeed._

_GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_

"Eilis?" She heard Carth's worried voice. "Eilis, answer me!"

"Sorry," she muttered. "Had an uninvited visitor."

Carth frowned at her then said, "I don't like this."

"What, Bastila being in my head? Or this entire thing?"

"This entire thing." He shook his head and added, "There's something odd going on."

"On that we agree," said Eilis, rubbing her temples.

"I don't like it."

"Neither do I. But if doing this means I can do more to help, then I'm going to do it."

Carth sighed and shook his head then looked at her.

"Just…just don't change, alright?" He smiled slightly and added, "I kinda like having you around."

"Aww," said Eilis, smiling and reaching out to brush her fingers at the two strands of hair that were perpetually hanging over his forehead. "The big bad pilot likes me."

" 'Big bad?' "

"Yup," she confirmed with a smile. She then said, "Don't worry, Carth. I don't intend to change for anyone, ever. Not even the Jedi."

He smiled in return and said, "Glad to hear it."

Eilis rose then and stretched before saying, "Guess I'd better get going then before Bastila actually comes after me. And wouldn't _that_ be fun?"

Carth chuckled and watched as she left the cockpit, hearing her have a short talk with Mission before she left. Standing, he looked out the windows of the cockpit and watched her walk across the landing area towards the Enclave entrance. A small silver circle followed her and he smiled.

Her having AT with her made him feel a little better about her agreeing to the Jedi training. It meant she had something she knew with her.

Even though he wished _he_ were the one going with her.

Sitting back down with a sigh, he began to check through the freighter's systems to see which still needed repairs in an attempt to keep his mind off the smuggler.

------

"Now place the lens within the casing…there we are. A perfect lightsabre."

Eilis smiled and turned to look at Zhar, who was standing behind her. "It still needs a crystal," she said, flicking the power switch on and off idly. "Otherwise it's useless."

"And for that you should go and speak to Master Dorak," said the Twi'lek. He took the incomplete hilt from her and placed it back on the workbench amongst the spare parts still littering it. "When you receive your crystal, return to me and we shall see if you can install it properly."

Though part of her rankled at the fact that he seemed to think she was inept with technology, she bowed and said, "Very well, Master."

With that she went to seek out the other Master and found him sitting in the central courtyard on a bench. She sank down beside him and watched the great tree in the center for a moment before speaking.

"Master Zhar sent me to find you, Master."

"Ah," said Dorak. "You are constructing your lightsabre now, are you not, Apprentice?"

"Yes, Master."

The older man nodded to himself then began to speak.

"Then I will tell you of the classes that all Jedi fall into: Guardian, Sentinel, and Consular. Guardian's are fighters, focusing their time more on the skills of combat. Sentinel's ferret out injustice and deceit around them. Consular's are peacemakers and problem-solvers. They focus more on their mental skills."

"We all have watched you," he continued, "throughout your training. I think I know what class you are meant for but it is yours to choose, Apprentice. I do, however, have a few questions for you."

Eilis nodded and waited.

"A woman and her child are beset by a desperate looking group of thugs. They are menacing her with their weapons and she is screaming for help. What do you do?"

"Step between the thugs and the woman," she answered without hesitation. "Allow her to escape."

"And if the thugs attack you then?"

Eilis shrugged. "Then I have no choice but to retaliate. They may be desperate but that's no reason to attack a helpless woman."

"Interesting," said Dorak. "Now, you encounter a Dark Jedi allied with the Sith. There is a pause in the combat. What do you do?"

"Strike. Incapacitate him then attempt to talk to him."

"Why not speak to him amidst the combat?"

"Talking during combat takes your mind away from the fight," explained Eilis, remembering when her father had taught her this. "There are some that banter during battle in an attempt to keep their opponent off guard. To prevent this, incapacitate your opponent."

Dorak frowned at her then nodded.

"My final question. There is a locked door and your goal is on the other side. What do you do?"

Eilis smirked and answered like a smuggler would.

"I pick the lock."

"And if the lock cannot be picked?"

"Plant a mine and run."

The Jedi Master looked at her for a long moment then said, "You will make a most strange Jedi, Apprentice. And a born Guardian, I think. If you agree, of course."

Eilis grinned and inclined her head.

"Thank you, Master. And I do agree."

Dorak handed her a deep blue crystal then and she cradled it in her hands, blue eyes caught in the sunlight that reflected off the sharp edges. She almost felt as though the crystal had a life of its own.

"Return to Master Zhar, Apprentice. Your lightsabre, I believe, needs finishing."

Eilis stood quickly and bowed before walking briskly back to where Zhar stood by the workbench. He nodded as she held up the blue crystal then watched over her shoulder as she installed it in the lightsabre hilt.

She fitted the hilt back together and brushed her thumb over the switch that would ignite the blade. It crackled and flared to life but something was wrong with the blade; it flickered and fizzed slightly near where it extended from the hilt. Frowning, she turned it back off and opened the hilt again, leaning down over the crystal setting. Noticing a slight tilt where one shouldn't be, she gave it a nudge and heard a dull _clink_ as it fell into its correct place.

Smiling, she refitted the hilt together and thumbed the switch. With a _snap-hiss_ the sapphire blade came to life and she grinned with pride.

Though during the sabre's construction, it had almost felt like she had built one before.

Switching off the sabre, she handed it to Zhar, who studied it for a moment before igniting it himself. The blue glow from the blade made odd shadows on his skin.

"Fine work, Apprentice," he said as he powered the blade off and returned it to her. She smiled and clipped the sabre to the belt of the robes she'd been forced into during her training. Once they left the planet, she swore she was getting her leather pants back.

AT suddenly popped up from where he'd been powered down on the workbench and bobbed excitedly around her shoulders.

"Beep bop bip!"

Eilis laughed and said, "Yes, AT, I have a lightsabre too now."

"Beep bop!"

"Though I don't think I'm a Jedi yet." She looked at Zhar and asked, "Am I correct, Master?"

The Twi'lek nodded and said, "You have one final trial as an apprentice." He nodded towards the cylinder on her belt and continued, "Your lightsabre will identify you as a Jedi and with that title comes great honor as well as enemies. The Sith will hunt you for this and you will have to prove yourself against foes who wield a lightsabre as well."

"For every Jedi, the Dark Side poses a great threat. It is always present. You must come to understand this."

_I understand _that _lesson well enough already_, thought Eilis to herself. She'd met some scum in her time and she'd also run into some that could only be described as evil. It wasn't _only_ Jedi that had to fear the Dark Side.

"There is a sacred grove nearby that we have used on occasion for meditation. It has become tainted and the wildlife in the area seem to have gone mad."

"The kathhounds, you mean?"

Zhar frowned and she quickly explained her walks on the outer edge of the Enclave. She did not mention Carth accompanying her upon them, however. Somehow she didn't get the feeling that would go over too well…

"Indeed," said Zhar finally. "You must go there and discover what is tainting the area. It is to the south and you will know it when you see it."

------

Eilis strode towards the landing area where the _Ebon Hawk_ was with AT bobbing along behind her, wondering who she should ask to come with her.

Carth didn't like Jedi as it was and she didn't want to drag him into a quest they'd put her on.

Canderous was a possibility though Carth might follow them fearing the Mandalorian would turn on her.

She didn't want to drag Mission into this, as she knew the teenager was quite happily exploring the Enclave with Zaalbar.

Bastila was still with the Master's discussing whatever Jedi discussed.

Which only left T3. AT was already accompanying her so why not bring another droid along?

Striding up the ramp into the _Hawk_, she went searching for the droid and found him in the engine room making repairs to the hyperdrive.

"Hey, T3. How're the repairs coming?"

"Beep bop brip."

"That sounds good. Say, want to come with me for a bit?"

"Breep?"

"Yes, you, silly." She then frowned and looked around, noticing that she didn't hear the sound of Canderous in the swoop hangar fixing his blaster or the taping of keys from the cockpit. "Where is everyone?"

"Bip bop breep beep bop bip bip boop."

Eilis blinked at that.

"Okay, Mission and Zaalbar going exploring I understand. But since when did Carth and Canderous get along enough to even stand within three feet of each other without me around?"

"Bip bop."

"Yeah, I don't know either. I just hope they don't kill each other."

"Breep," agreed AT, bumping against her shoulder.

"So, you coming, Tee?"

The silver droid gave an affirmative whistle and Eilis grinned.

"Alright. But first c'mere. You're going to need some weaponry and armor if we run into any kathhounds."

"Brrr."

Half an hour later, Eilis and the two droid's exited the Enclave and started towards the direction of the grove. Before they completely left the grounds, a man standing nearby ran up and grabbed her left arm in a hard grip.

"Master Jedi!"

"I'm no Master," said Eilis, her eyes on his hand. "And please unhand me."

"Oh! Forgive me, I'm…I'm not myself."

"Brooo," said AT.

"Hush, you," admonished Eilis, nudging him with her shoulder. Then she turned to the man and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"My…my daughter was killed by Mandalorians. They raided our home and she stood up to them! Them and their damn Duros henchmen! You have to do something!"

"Beep brop," commented T3, causing Eilis to blink. She stared at the droid for a moment then inclined her head towards the man, saying, "I will do what I can, sir."

"Thank you!" cried the man, clasping her hands before running off. "Thank you!"

Eilis watched him go then spun towards the small astromech droid.

"What did you mean it was already done?"

"Beep bop bip breep!"

She blinked then snarled, "Those stupid nerfherders! C'mon, you two. After we get done with what the Master's want me to do, we're going to go hunt those two down and if they're still alive…"

"Bip?" commented AT.

"No, I'm not going to kill them," replied Eilis as she stormed towards the grove. "But I _am_ going to make them wish they dead."

"Beep brrr," commented T3 to the rotund droid, hanging back behind Eilis.

"Broop," replied AT, motioning in the air in what might be construed as a shrug.

The two droid's then followed the apprentice Jedi further away from the Enclave, easily fending off what kathhounds attacked them. Eilis ripped through them like a whirlwind, acting out her annoyance at the two men upon the kathhounds. Because of this, by the time they arrived at the grove, she was fairly calm again.

Stepping around a tall pillar that might once have been part of a building, she found herself looking down at a meditating Cathar woman. Eilis vaguely remembered her mother telling her about them, that they were a proud people. Though she hadn't mentioned anything about them being Jedi as this Cathar obviously was by the cylinder on her belt.

She felt the self-hatred running off the woman like a waterfall and knew then that this was what was causing the taint in the area. But what did the Master's want her to do about it?

Surely they didn't want her to kill her… Did they?

The Cathar's yellow eyes snapped open suddenly and AT gave a beep of warning at the same instant the Force did. An instant later the woman was up, her lightsabre flaring to life as she leapt at Eilis. The smuggler rolled backwards and caught the leaping Cathar with her feet, sending her sailing over her. As she rolled onto her feet, she ripped her sabre from her belt and ignited it with a _snap-hiss._

The Cathar charged at her with a howl and she blocked her lightsabre, parrying the energy blade away. She lashed out with her own blade and struck the tattered orange robes the woman wore, only burning the topmost part of them. The other blue blade came back and she danced out of its way.

They continued fighting in this manner for a while, Eilis only defending and the Cathar following her, her attacks filled with anger. Then T3 darted forward when the other woman's back was towards him and shocked her leg with a stun ray Eilis had equipped him with.

The Cathar's leg collapsed underneath her and the smuggler wrenched the woman's lightsabre from her hand with the Force.

"You…" began the Cathar, "you are strong. Stronger than me, even in my darkness. Why have you invaded my grove?"

"Master Zhar sent me," replied Eilis. "He said there was a…taint…here. It was you."

"Yes. But why do you hesitate? I am defeated and unarmed – strike me down. I _am_ the taint here. This is my place, my place of dark power."

"Not for all the brandy on Corellia," swore Eilis. She clipped her lightsaber back to her belt and extended the Cathar's lightsabre towards her. "I've met plenty of bad people in my life and you're not one."

"I slew my Master!" exploded the Cathar. "Is that not enough? I gave into anger! But…it was not enough. I was defeated by you so easily." She shook her head, the trails of hair from her topknot swaying. Then she lifted her yellow eyes and asked, "What do you want of me?"

"Let it go."

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me," said Eilis, dropping to one knee. She still held the Cathar's lightsabre out towards her. "Let go of your anger. It was surely an accident, wasn't it?" Then she shrugged and said, "Or you can take this sabre and we can continue fighting. Though I assure you, I have no urge to kill you."

She then laughed and said, "And it wasn't me that beat you. It was my little droid. Now, c'mon. You've got to move on with life. That's the only way you can survive."

The Cathar looked at her for a long moment then gingerly took her lightsabre. She looked at it in her hand then said, "You go about it strangely but somehow your words make sense."

"Of course they do," said Eilis, offering the Cathar her hand to pull her up. "I'm Eilis, by the way."

"Juhani," said the Cathar. She then looked in the direction of the Enclave and asked, "Will the Master's truly forgive me for what I've done?"

"I promise they will. If you want, though, I can walk back with you."

"You…you would not be ashamed to be seen with me?"

"Why would I be ashamed?" asked Eilis. "You made a mistake. That's all. Everyone ought to get a chance to clear up their mistakes. And here's yours."

"I suppose you are right."

"'Course I am."

"Beep bop!"

Eilis sighed and said, "We'll go find those two nerfherders later, AT." She then smiled at Juhani, who returned it nervously. "I just made a promise. And I'm going to keep it."

"Thank you," breathed Juhani as they began to walk towards the Enclave, the two droid's trailing behind them.

"You're welcome," replied Eilis, a feeling of content circling within her. She'd felt horrid since the destruction of Taris, knowing that she could do nothing to save Zelka and the Beks and the Outcasts.

But now that feeling was a little less prominent.

------

"YOU STUPID NERFHERDERS! YOU…YOU…YOU RANKWEED SUCKING MURGLAK'S! HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE!"

Juhani blinked and peered out into the landing area were a single ship was docked. Sitting on plasteel cylinders not far from its ramp were two men, one recognizable as a Mandalorian and the other a regular human. Both were injured and being cared for by one of the Enclave's healers yet were both smiling to themselves at the sight in front of them.

Pacing in front of the cylinders was Eilis, the woman who had pulled Juhani out of her dark hole and brought her back to the Enclave. The Master's had forgiven her and she had been surprised to discover that her own Master had been testing her and was not truly dead. Injured, yes, but not dead. And very proud her student had returned, though she herself had left to go train others.

Though it had taken the woman pacing in front of two men and cursing in at least seven different languages to return the Cathar to the Light.

"Is she done yet?" asked Canderous, leaning slightly towards the pilot.

"Not yet," replied Carth. After being talked into going exploring for some 'fun' with the Mandalorian and ending up getting rid of the Mandalorians that had been harassing the settlers, he found himself a bit more comfortable in his company. They still weren't friends – and likely never would be – but they seemed to understand each other better now.

"Hey, beautiful!"

Eilis paused in her pacing and Juhani frowned. The human was a Jedi, was she not? Surely she was not going against the Order's rules…

"Go jump off a cliff, flyboy!"

With that she spun and started to stalk off, which prompted Carth to follow her. Juhani ducked back behind the doorway so she wouldn't be spotted.

"Oh, c'mon, beautiful! We're just a little bruised! Not like we're dead or anything."

"You're lucky _I_ don't kill you for that stunt, Onasi! What were you two _thinking_!"

"Hey," said Carth, "_he_ charged in first after we found them. What was I supposed to do, let him go it alone? You'd have hung me from my heels."

"Damn right, I would have!"

Eilis huffed then shook her head, saying, "Just…just don't do something like that again. Either of you. When T3 told me you two knew about them and had gone out on your own, I feared the worst."

"Hey, no worries, beautiful. We're still here."

"You _not_ being here is just what I'm afraid of!" The smuggler shook her head and Juhani peered around the doorway to see tears in her eyes. "I've gotten used to having you around, you big lug."

"Ow! Damnit, punch me with your other arm!"

Eilis laughed and punched Carth's arm again with her right hand. He winced and backed away from her, rubbing where she'd hit.

"Aww, did I hurt the big bad pilot's man feelings?"

"My…I'll show you hurt, sister. C'mere."

"Wha…oh, no, Carth, not…don't you dare tickle me, Onasi! _ONASI!_"

Juhani blinked and watched with a mix of amusement and awe as the human chased Eilis around the landing area until she fled into the ship. The man paused on the ramp at something the Mandalorian said and laughed before disappearing inside as well.

The Cathar shook her head and began to walk back into the Enclave depths, her thoughts on the very strange Jedi that had rescued her.

------

"Family argument: concluded. Murder: solved. Dark taint: turned back to the Light. Escaped droid and um…very attached owner: fixed."

Eilis looked at Carth as they walked towards the ruins that she had seen Revan and Malak within in her dream and asked, "Did I miss anything?"

"The raiders?"

"You and Canderous did that."

"Well, that counts, doesn't it?"

Eilis glared at him and Carth shrugged. Ahead of them, Bastila called out, "Here is the entrance!"

The other two hurried to catch up with her and the smuggler gasped.

"It's exactly like my dream…"

She started to step forward but Carth's hand on her arm stopped her. Turning towards him, she saw concern in his brown eyes.

"Be careful," he said, glancing towards the ruins. "We've got no idea what's in there."

"Careful is my middle name, flyboy," said Eilis with a smirk. She then strode forward and gingerly reached out her right hand towards the door. Her gloved droid hand ran over the odd sigils on the door and abruptly she heard something within move.

The door opened as she took a nervous step back and revealed the darkness of the ruins within. Looking back over her shoulder at Carth and Bastila, she drew her lightsabre and ignited it. The blue light from the blade gave her enough light to see by as she slowly made her way into the ruins.

_I'm walking in Revan and Malak's footsteps_, she thought as she moved further into the ruins. _But what is here – or was here – that they were looking for?_

Another door loomed in front of her and she ran her fingers over it again, causing it to slid open. There was a series of metallic clicks from within the next room and she saw a flash of silver metal in the light of her sabre.

"There's a droid in here," she said as she stepped in.

The droid made noises she'd never heard a droid – or anything else – make in her life and she shook her head.

"I…I'm sorry. I don't understand."

Another unfamiliar language came from the droid and she looked at Bastila, who shook her head.

"I don't recognize it," said the brunette.

"It seems to understand us though," commented Carth. "It keeps switching languages."

"_I can reproduce any of the languages spoken by the slaves of the Builders._"

Eilis wrinkled her nose and said, "That's ancient Selkath. But why would a droid on Dantooine speak Selkath?"

"_Communication was vital to ensure that the slaves constructed this temple according to the wishes of the Builders. But you are not of the slave species. You are like the one's who came before._"

"It must meant Revan and Malak," said Bastila.

"Gee, y'think?" said Carth sarcastically.

Eilis ignored the both of them and asked the droid, "Are you some type of guardian?"

"_I am the Overseer. The Builders programmed me to enforce discipline amongst the slaves while this monument to the power of the Star Forge was constructed. At project completion, the slaves were executed and I was programmed to serve should a Builder return in search of knowledge of the Star Forge._"

"The Star Forge must have been what they were looking for," mused Eilis. "What is the Star Forge?"

"_The Star Forge is the glory of the Builders, the apex of the Infinite Empire. It is a machine of invincible might, a tool of unstoppable conquest._"

"Okay. What does it do?"

The droid repeated itself and Bastila said, "The droid does not seem to be programmed with the knowledge we seek."

"Maybe that's how they amassed a fleet so quickly," said Carth. "I've never recognized any of the ships in their armada."

"You mean this Star Forge might be a factory?"

"Exactly."

Eilis frowned then asked the droid, "How long have you been here?"

"_My chronological circuits have marked over ten revolutions of this system's outermost planet since the Builders left_."

Bastila gasped, "That's more than 20,000 years! If this is true, then…"

"This empire is over 5,000 years older than the Republic," finished Eilis, staring at the droid.

"There must be a mistake in its calculations," insisted the other Jedi.

"_There is no mistake. The Builders constructed my circuitry using the technology of the Star Forge itself. My calculations are infallible._"

"Hmm. What were the Builders like?"

"_The Builder's are the great masters of the galaxy, the conquerors of all worlds, the rulers of the Infinite Empire and the creators of the Star Forge._"

Eilis frowned then turned towards Bastila, asking, "Weren't the Hutt's a dominant force before the Republic? I remember one I worked for mentioning that in some long rant once."

"Yes," replied the younger woman. "But they did not build an empire. I know of no species that would fit this information, at all."

"Then these Builders must be extinct," said Carth.

"Yes," agreed Bastila. "Yet there are no records of their existence. Or this Star Forge."

The droid rattled suddenly and spoke, "_Now that the slaves are gone, my purpose is to aid those who seek knowledge of the Star Forge if they are worthy. The one's who came before you; the one's like you – not Builders, not slaves – sought knowledge of the Star Forge. They proved themselves worthy. They discovered the secrets of the Star Forge locked beyond the door behind me. Other's came who came failed to unlock the secrets and paid the ultimate price._"

"Others?" whispered Eilis. Then she noticed a figure crumpled to her left and went to it, turning it over. A glint of silver near its waist caught her attention and she gasped.

"Bastila! It's a Jedi!"

"It must be Nemo," said the brunette as she walked over, referring to the other Jedi the Master's had sent here. She leaned down to peer at the man's shattered face, trying to recognize what remained. "Poor Nemo."

Eilis unclipped the man's lightsabre from his belt and thumbed the switch. Something clicked hollowly inside and she shook her head.

"Whatever happened, it broke his lightsaber," she said before tucking the sabre into her robes. She then looked at the droid and asked, "Did you kill him?"

"_I am not programmed for combat. The temple's own protections will destroy the unworthy if they fail in their quest for knowledge. Now it is your time. Enter the doors to the east and the west. Within them those who understand the will of the Builders can unlock their secrets and open the doors. Those who fail will be destroyed by the power of the temple itself._"

"What a cheerful droid," muttered Carth, eying the two doors suspiciously.

"Mmm," said Eilis, walking towards the east door. She then looked at the other two and said, "Guess we'd better go in if we're going to find out what Revan and Malak wanted here."

The door slid open at the touch of her fingertips and she peered inside, holding her lightsabre out in front of her. As Carth came through the door it slammed shut and lights came on within the chamber.

Eilis barely avoided a stream of laser fire coming from across the room and pulled Carth with her as she dived out of the way. Bastila went the other way, deflecting bolts back at the droid that was firing at them.

"Oof!"

"Sorry," muttered the smuggler, grinning sheepishly down at Carth. Then she realized she was lying on top of him and blushed, hurriedly getting up.

"Hey, no rush, beautiful," he said as he rolled to his feet, drawing his blaster's and firing at the droid. "I don't mind being a cushion."

Eilis blushed again then reached into her robe, digging a plasma grenade out of one of her pockets. Carth frowned at her and asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

"Distract it," she replied, arming the grenade. As she hurled it towards the droid, she leapt up and charged at it, ignoring her companion's surprised cries.

The droid's weapon turned towards her but then the plasma grenade went off, blocking its vision momentarily. And when it could see again, all that was visible was a blue energy blade coming straight for what could be called its head.

Eilis shouted wordlessly as the droid's head rolled away then cut her sabre back to slice through two of its legs. It collapsed and she drove the blade down into its control cluster, effectively demolishing it.

"That was a brash move!" exclaimed Bastila.

"Maybe," said Eilis, grinning. "But it worked."

Bastila frowned at that, which caused Carth to chuckle softly despite the fact that he wanted to shake the smuggler and demand she never do something like that again.

Eilis then noticed an ancient console near the back of the room and started towards it. It powered on the moment her fingers touched it and she frowned at the words that popped onto the screen. Tapping on the console's keys only got it to hum at her and she finally just kicked it.

As she hopped on one foot, she saw the earlier words come across the screen in ancient Selkath.

IDENTIFY THE THREE PRIMARY DEATH-GIVING SEED WORLD TYPES

She thought for a moment then typed the three in Selkath. There was a pause then another message filled the screen.

BREAKING DEATH SEAL

The console shut down after that and all three of them heard a door within the ruins open.

"What did you do?" asked Bastila as they headed towards the door, which was open again.

"I answered its question," replied Eilis as she went around the Overseer to the other door. As she stepped in, she added, "Simple as that."

There was a click suddenly from her right and she yelled, "_Get down!_"

Fire blossomed from a flamethrower just two feet away and she threw her right arm in front of her face as she fell backwards. The lights came on a second later and she heard Carth curse at the sight of another droid.

Tugging off the still burning outer robe and her glove, Eilis rolled to her feet and grabbed her lightsabre, igniting it. She shook her droid arm to make sure it still worked then glanced down to see what the damage was. Small chunks of her armor had been slagged off, which left holes down to the original arm.

Snarling, she flicked her wrist sharply, causing part of her forearm to snap away from the rest of her arm, revealing a flamethrower.

"Move!" she bellowed at Bastila, who was slashing at the droid with her lightsaber. The brunette looked up and dived out of the way seconds before Eilis let loose with her flamethrower.

"Let's see how _you_ like it!" she shouted, watching as the fire engulfed the droid. Then she flicked her wrist, causing her arm to snap back together, and rushed forward.

Bastila came in from the other side and their lightsabres lashed out at it in a light show of blue and yellow, punctuated by the occasional red blaster bolt from Carth.

The droid finally fell under the onslaught and Eilis gave it a swift kick, cursing vehemently in Selkath at it. Then she stalked over to the console and ended up kicking this one as well to get it to work. She spent a minute answering its question then the sound of another door opening within the ruins came to their ears. And this one sounded like it was the one behind the Overseer droid.

When they entered the main room they found the door open and walked through, heading down to the next door. Eilis paused as she reached out to touch the door and shuddered, turning her face away from it.

Carth frowned and took a step towards her, saying, "Eilis?"

"I'm okay," she whispered. She turned back to the door and looked at it for a long moment before saying in a hushed voice, "It just…it just feels like if we go beyond this door, nothing will ever be the same."

"Then again," she said as she ran her now uncovered droid fingers over the door to open it, "when does anything stay the same?"

Carth and Bastila couldn't help but notice she spoke in a slightly bitter tone.

In the center of the room now revealed was a black tripod, three sections of it folded upwards. It reminded Eilis of a flower waiting to bloom.

As they walked towards it, there was a click and the three sections folded back. A holographic image came to life from the center of the tripod and Eilis gasped.

"It's a map," she breathed, reaching out to touch one of the planets. "That's Kashyyyk. And Manaan. And this one here is Tatooine. But what is this one?"

"It looks like Korriban," said Bastila, stepping forward to take a closer look at the map.

Carth frowned at the map and asked, "What does it mean?"

Eilis frowned as she began to enter the map data into her datapad.

"Maybe," she began, "maybe we have to visit all these world's. And look! Look at this section here. There's an entire sector missing."

"Maybe that's where this Star Forge is," said Carth.

"Maybe," muttered Eilis as she continued to enter in the data. She then frowned and said, "What I don't understand is why I had a dream…vision…whatever…of Revan and Malak coming here. I mean, I'm just a smuggler!"

Bastila frowned at her for that.

"You're a Jedi now," she said.

Eilis shrugged as she punched the last of the data in and slipped her datapad back into her robes. She immediately missed the slot on her old belt. The datapad's weight made her lean slightly to the right to compensate when it was in her robe pockets.

"We should go and inform the Master's," said Bastila. "Finding this Star Forge may be the key to stopping the Sith once and for all."

"That's quite a supposition," said Carth as they turned to leave. "What if you're wrong?"

"And if I'm right? We cannot ignore this."

"Yeah, well, I'm with Eilis. I'd like to know why she's getting visions of Dark Lord's – former and current."

"That is none of your concern, Carth," said Bastila sharply.

"None of my…! Now see here, sister! You're as close-mouthed as the rest of the Jedi here. I know something's up and I'm going to find out one way or another! 'Cause if there's one thing I don't like, it's being left out of the loop."

"Left out?"

"Yeah, it's starting to irritate me. For one thing, what are these Master's of yours thinking?"

"What do you mean, Carth?" asked Eilis, causing him to turn towards her.

"Look, you're a neophyte Padawan. And what do they do? Send you half-trained into a deadly situation. Doesn't any of this strike you as strange?"

"It does," replied Eilis. "But what other choice do we have?"

"We can blast out of here right now and leave the Jedi behind us!"

"And leave the galaxy to fend for itself against the Sith?" She shook her head, strands of dark hair escaping from her tail and falling over her eyes. "I can't do that, Carth. After…after Taris I can't – _I won't_ – allow the Sith to do that to another world if I can help it. And what we're doing might just keep them from doing that!"

He stared at her for a moment then nodded, running a hand back through his hair.

"Alright, Eilis. But I still say we're being stringed along."

"Then we'll just have to cut the strings when we find them, won't we?" said Eilis with a smirk, not catching the look of horror on Bastila's face at the thought. "I don't like being stringed along anymore than you do, flyboy."

"We should really return to the Enclave," said Bastila in a strained voice.

Eilis nodded and led the way from the ruins, unmindful of Bastila's thought that already she might be falling.

Again.

------

As they got ready to leave Dantooine a few days later on the mission to find the other maps to lead to the Star Forge, Mission surprised Eilis as she worked to repair Nemo's lightsabre.

"El! Look what me and Zaalbar found in the caves!"

Eilis looked up and yelped as a leather bag dropped in front of her, nearly on top of the lightsabre hilt. She turned to frown at Mission, who grinned sheepishly at her. Behind the Twi'lek, Zaalbar shook his furry head and chuckled softly.

From her elbow, AT floated up and extended one of his arms, latching the three small claws on the end on the edge of the bag. He bobbed backwards and the contents of the bag spilled onto the _Ebon Hawk_'s workbench.

"Brip!" cried AT as several crystals spilled onto the bench.

Eilis gaped at them then picked up one that was obviously a yellow color crystal. She then looked at the blue Twi'lek and Wookiee and asked, "Where did you find these?"

"_Deep within a cave_," replied Zaalbar. "_Mission__ remembered you mentioning something about being able to insert other crystals into your sabre to make it stronger. So we collected as many as we could find._"

"Wow," said Eilis, turning the yellow crystal in her hands. "This is a great find, you two."

Mission beamed at that and said, "Glad you can use them, El. C'mon, Big Z! Let's go get something to eat."

The two disappeared and Eilis reached into the bag, pulling out a handful of crystals. A few she would have to cut rough edges off but beyond that all of them appeared usable.

"Well," she said to AT, who was scanning a milky white crystal, "looks like I'd better get this other sabre working. Is there another blue crystal in there?"

AT's photoreceptor flashed and he floated forward, using his arm to shift through the bag as she continued to work on the sabre. His affirmative beep made her grin.

"Great."

She then felt the _Hawk_'s engines rumble to life and smiled.

"Looks like we're off on a real whirlwind adventure this time, AT."

"Beep bop."

She chuckled and nodded, bending her head over the sabre again.

"Yeah. And with good friends."

**Author's Note**

Planet galaxy locations found on http/www.kolumbus.fi/antti.lusila/starwars/galaxymap.html


End file.
